Parents and lawmakers speak out against Obama's speech to students

[deepimpact2]

Originally Posted by DaemonSeid

What's even worse, when reading some of the comments, it seems that some of the writers need to be in class with the kids.

lmao

[DaemonSeid]

Agreed.

Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance

As far as recording...who knows...sometimes you just cant beat live.

And in some places it's the first day of school so that in the middle of the rest of the pandemonium that goes along with it...hmmm..

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by DaemonSeid

Agreed.

Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance

As far as recording...who knows...sometimes you just cant beat live.

And in some places it's the first day of school so that in the middle of the rest of the pandemonium that goes along with it...hmmm..

I wonder what percentage of schools start the day after Labor Day?

We go back waaay earlier than that down here. Most Atlanta area schools will have been back for about a month. It never even occurred to me that it was deliberately on the first day; how funny is that? Noon is still kind of a bad time logistically, but it maybe the only time that works to get all the time zones in.

But yeah, I guess it would be great on the first day of school to start the year with an address like this. It's always the message schools are trying to send. And there's no real teaching to mess up.

[tld221]

Originally Posted by UGAalum94

I wonder what percentage of schools start the day after Labor Day?

We go back waaay earlier than that down here. Most Atlanta area schools will have been back for about a month. It never even occurred to me that it was deliberately on the first day; how funny is that? Noon is still kind of a bad time logistically, but it maybe the only time that works to get all the time zones in.

But yeah, I guess it would be great on the first day of school to start the year with an address like this. It's always the message schools are trying to send. And there's no real teaching to mess up.

knowing this takes the thread off course... but what causes one area/region/state to start school in early/mid August, late August, or early September? Are all school systems required to be in session 180 days? (aside from year-round schooling)

I can see in places where summer, weather-wise, can start in late April/early May, and school ending around Memorial day makes sense.

[court4short]

Originally Posted by tld221

knowing this takes the thread off course... but what causes one area/region/state to start school in early/mid August, late August, or early September? Are all school systems required to be in session 180 days? (aside from year-round schooling)

I can see in places where summer, weather-wise, can start in late April/early May, and school ending around Memorial day makes sense.

I'm 99% sure this is correct - 180 days. As for the cause of schools starting at different times, I have no idea. My guess would be just different demographic? Tradition? I dunno.

[court4short]

My brother is a junior in high school and they started this past week (the 31st of August). They have off Monday, and the speech is going to be on Tuesday (correct me if I'm wrong?). I was suprised to get a message from the school on our answering machine tonight informing parents of the speech, and stating that they could keep their kids home from school. They also mentioned they will be having a seperate classroom in the school where the speech won't be shown, and you can elect to have your kid go into that room.

Does that seem a LITTLE ridiculous or is it just me? It's a speech from the PRESIDENT of the United States. It's not like it's going to be some highly offensive speech or anything, right? You know, you can't hide your kids from EVERYTHING....I mean really, they are high school students. Just my opinion.

But going back to what I said about the speech not being offensive..I honestly don't really understand why people find this offensive. Am I missing something? Are there subliminal messages that I'm not picking up on?

[ThetaPrincess24]

Originally Posted by court4short

Does that seem a LITTLE ridiculous or is it just me? It's a speech from the PRESIDENT of the United States. It's not like it's going to be some highly offensive speech or anything, right? You know, you can't hide your kids from EVERYTHING....I mean really, they are high school students. Just my opinion.

But going back to what I said about the speech not being offensive..I honestly don't really understand why people find this offensive. Am I missing something? Are there subliminal messages that I'm not picking up on?

I am not an Obama fan by any stretch of the means and I criticize him/his administration frequently. However, if his speech is truly non-partisan/non-political, and is conveying a great positive message to kids about how important education is, then I see no problem.

I think people are up in arms because as stated before here, it was announced late/poor planning, and a lot of parents may not buy in to the non-partisan/non-political aspect of the speech. I would expect the same kind of uproar regardless of who was making the speech including but not limited to:
--any past US president (popular or unpopular)
--a highly respected religious figure such as the Pope
--some nut actor from Hollywood
--a republican/independent president/administration

[KSig RC]

Originally Posted by sqid smoks crak

How do you know the speech is non partisan?

What does it say about the students that don't already know that education is important?

Because I read it? Although I have literally no idea what your second sentence means.

[baci]

For many parents, this issue in my area is how we have been treated regarding our children. Whenever there is any kind of speaker, presentation, guest, special activity, and so on parents must give their consent via written form. It does not matter what it is or who it is. This was not done in this case.

Then, each school did not have clear information regarding this speech. Parents want to know what is going on in their child's classroom and they have a right. The school board in my county did not have this properly done and too much conflicting information in each school. It should be the same countywide and this throws up another red flag. You can't do that to parents no matter who is making the speech. The way parents see it - you do it this time and who knows what else you will do it with. As a parent, you send your children off to school and you lose control of your child while they are away from you. Parents did deserve information ahead of time and specific details which they did not receive. Call it whatever you want, but it was poor.

I know that I received a telephone call from my principal and was told the speech to the children would be one hour long, but it is up to each teacher if they choose to show the full length or not show it all. Funny, the released speech was nowhere near sixty minutes. That tells me something is not quite right. Was my school improperly informed or was the speech changed after all the craziness? It has made numerous parents wonder.

If you are going to do something like this it needs to be done properly from the beginning and it needs to have everything spelled out for parents. No matter what the message it was done improperly.

[epchick]

Originally Posted by baci

For many parents, this issue in my area is how we have been treated regarding our children. Whenever there is any kind of speaker, presentation, guest, special activity, and so on parents must give their consent via written form. It does not matter what it is or who it is. This was not done in this case.

Then, each school did not have clear information regarding this speech. Parents want to know what is going on in their child's classroom and they have a right. The school board in my county did not have this properly done and too much conflicting information in each school. It should be the same countywide and this throws up another red flag. You can't do that to parents no matter who is making the speech. The way parents see it - you do it this time and who knows what else you will do it with. As a parent, you send your children off to school and you lose control of your child while they are away from you. Parents did deserve information ahead of time and specific details which they did not receive. Call it whatever you want, but it was poor.

TXCN was saying that many school districts in TX were not gonna show the president's speech for this exact reason. I call bullshit. The fact that it was gonna be shown in school, meant that it was gonna have some kind of educational value. These parents probably don't give a damn about anything else, but because it was from a president they don't like, or b/c Obama is a Republican (or whatever the reason) they throw a shit fit about it. I personally don't think the parents deserved anything more than the information the rest of the public got. From my understanding (and I have many relatives in education) the school districts got the info, so if the parents wanted the information, they should have asked the school district. If the parents didn't have adequate information it was because they weren't seeking it out, or the school/school district failed......not the fault of the President.

It's pretty ridiculous that the President can't even give a speech to school children about staying in school without people complaining about it. Was there this much uproar when Bush Sr. gave his education speech? Why couldn't people actually wait until he gave his speech and then if they didn't agree, then bitch about it? It's a whole lot of hoopla over nothing. Like when you are waiting in line for a ride, and you are having panic attacks b/c you don't know what to expect, and once you finish that ride, you realize there wasn't anything to panic about.

I mean i'm not the biggest Obama fan either, but geezus people, it's a speech about staying in school and getting an education. People need to take chill pills and bitch about things that actually warrant some kind of concern.


(FYI, this wasn't directed at you specifically baci. I was gonna post about what TXCN said, but you posted something similar before, so I just quoted you)

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by baci

For many parents, this issue in my area is how we have been treated regarding our children. Whenever there is any kind of speaker, presentation, guest, special activity, and so on parents must give their consent via written form. It does not matter what it is or who it is.

Definitely not the case in our schools. If it's a field trip or something really, and I mean really out of the ordinary, consent is required. Special programs, guests and speakers? I've never signed a consent for for that, nor do I expect or want to.

That said, sometimes if there is going to be something special or unusual that might make some parents uncomfortable (eg the president's speech or the special classes on puberty and the reproductive system), parents know in advance and can opt out. That's what happened with the speech today. I'm told no one opted out. (The kids at son's school also gave the president a standing ovation before and after the speech without being told to. Glad to see they know some manners.)

I know that I received a telephone call from my principal and was told the speech to the children would be one hour long, but it is up to each teacher if they choose to show the full length or not show it all. Funny, the released speech was nowhere near sixty minutes. That tells me something is not quite right. Was my school improperly informed or was the speech changed after all the craziness? It has made numerous parents wonder.

I seriously doubt anyone ever planned a 60-minute speech to high schoolers and middle schoolers. We were told it would be approximately one hour for the entire exercise -- time spent before the speech talking about what might be said, the speech itself, and time afterward talking about what was said and what wasn't said.

[KSig RC]

Originally Posted by sqid smoks crak

Did you read the original speech or the revised speech?

If the parents that had a problem with the original were off base then whey did Obama revise the speech?

Where's the original? I'd love to read it - go ahead and post it for me, and I'll respond.

Oh, also - where's the proof it was revised in a substantive fashion to prevent outcry?

[KSig RC]

Originally Posted by sqid smoks crak

I don't have it either. If you haven't seen it then how do you know that the parents that complained didn't have a legit issue?

How could the parents have a "legit issue" if THEY never saw the speech?

The parents assumed it would be political because, well, political hacks always assume everything is political. The actual speech couldn't have been less political if it were entirely centered on the 2005 White Sox and their propensity to score nearly exclusively via the home run.

The Occam's Razor solution is that the parents' concerns were bred much more of fear-mongering and political hackery than from some sort of PTO feel-good hyper-involvement with their kids' educations.

This is also why baci's point holds so little water - all the sudden, this is the precise moment when a sea of (ONLY REPUBLICAN) parents become overwhelmingly involved with schooling? Really? It's cognitive dissonance at its finest, and I have absolutely no qualms saying that.

[grassisgreener]

Originally Posted by sqid smoks crak

Did you read the original speech or the revised speech?

If the parents that had a problem with the original were off base then whey did Obama revise the speech?

If you have an original copy of the speech, I would love to read it too. Please post.

[grassisgreener]

Originally Posted by sqid smoks crak

Did you read the original speech or the revised speech?

If the parents that had a problem with the original were off base then whey did Obama revise the speech?

Originally Posted by sqid smoks crak

I don't have it either. If you haven't seen it then how do you know that the parents that complained didn't have a legit issue?

So, even though can't produce the original copy, you just assumed that the general message of the speech was revised, and we should believe you because you say so? You completely contradicted yourself.

Just because someone believes that somethings exists, isn't proof that it actually exists until you can produce it. Thus, no reason to really be upset.