To the local educators who didn’t allow students to view President Obama’s speech out of fear of political indoctrination or that it didn’t meet the academic content standards:
I share your concerns.
What is this country coming to when a US president urges students to set goals and work hard in school? And he uses taxpayer dollars, to boot.
Yet despite the possibilities of what the speech may have contained, I wonder if a learning experience could have been tied to it. To you social studies teachers, what a great opportunity to discuss the nature of indoctrination with your classes. And you language arts instructors, why not use the speech to meet the content standards that say students should be exposed to a variety of texts that encourage “deep thinking?”
Yes, I do understand the concerns of parents and the angst of students. But I urge you educators to allow your classes to explore controversial messages and also to review the meaning of democracy and freedom of speech.
Furthermore, I believe there is a place for teaching students respect for the President of the United States. I understand that Obama isn't the usual ex-con-rapper-type that school districts often hire as motivational speakers, but he is our president. Socialist or not, he deserves our respect.
In the future, I hope you will think and act outside of the box.
