I must say that I am a little taken back by the negative reaction of parents in regard to our President wanting to address our children today. I am really not politically correct in my views so I will just be blunt and let you all provide your feedback.
First of all, my child attends a public elementary school. I, along with every other tax paying citizen, contribute a portion of my paycheck every month to the US Government. With that money they take care of roadways, education, social security, healthcare, business affairs, etc, etc. The public school system is a government entitity that we all support by sending our kids to public schools. We don't have a problem sending our kids to the building the government pays the bills for, nor do we mind using the books, resources and facilities that the governement provides. We also don't mind letting the government pay the salaries of those teachers that we entrust our kids to. I believe the President has every right to speak a word of encouragement over each and everyone of our kids. He even had the decency to provide each parent with a live video feed of the speech as it happened as well as post it on television an the internet following.
Teachers spend 35-40% of each waking hour of our kids lives with them. We don't have video feed, simulcast or television broadcast of what they actually say or plant in our kids minds every single day, yet we have NO problem at all trusting our children to their influence.
Personally, I didn't vote for Mr. Obama and I am concered about some issues on the forefront. There are people in my life that aren't good leaders or have some weird ideas about things but at the end of the day they are good people and would have good things to say to my child at any given moment. Mr. Obama is a human being that I don't necessarily agree with every issue on, but I do know he is a good father to his children.
If we are really concerned about how our children are being influenced, then go after the things that are making a huge impact. What influence are your children receiving from the unsupervised television programs they are watching in their bedroom while you sleep in on the weekends or watching TV in another room? What influence is your children receiving from the video games that aren't being monitored or the people chatting with him/her on X-Box Live? What influence are your children receiving from the computer websites they are visiting while no one is watching? What influence are your children receiving from the families they spend the night with? What influence are your children receiving by watching mom and dad and the way they live our their lives? What about the parents that take their kids to see Rated R movies as a family for family night?
Not to mention what message are we sending our children about honoring or respecting authority in their lives. Does you boss every give his/her opinion of influence that you don't necessarily agree with? Do you go home because of it? Authority and leadership is something our kids will deal with the rest of their lives and it is up to us to prepare them properly for it.
I'm done soap boxing for the moment. Thank you Mr. President for getting on the same level as my child and encouraging him to further his education and to work hard. I would have loved to been encourage by a President in my childhood, but they were too busy "big dogging". We were small potatoes.
Jared
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Very well put, Jared, I agree with all that you presented. Thank you for giving a voice to what every American should have thought out for themselves; of the importance first of all, of respect to the President and leader of our nation, and the importance of education as put forward by him. I didn't vote for Mr. Obama either but as our President, and and the holder of the highest office in our land, he is deserving of our prayers and respect; may God bless him and may he be lead of the Holy Spirit of God to do what is best and safe for us, our children and our country. Your Grandmother
ReplyDeleteJared,
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with you as well. I can say that I did not vote for and definitely disagree with the majority of his "policy", but would strongly agree with yours and your grandmother's stance of our responsibility to show respect for our president. As Christians, our responsibility is so much greater!! We should not only show respect, but pray for and honor the authority "we" as a nation elected. Now, the Bible is also very clear that we as Christians are to call good...good, and evil...evil! I think Christians would be wise to choose the battles that they wage, and stand firm when it's contrary to the Word of God.
Jared, I didn't know much about this speech, besides some radio talk, since I don't have my children in public schools. So...after reading your comments, I went and did a little research. It appears, that in the end, this speech was nothing more than our Nation's President encouraging the youth of today to strive for excellence. What seems to either be overlooked or forgotten is the REASON it was the above. According to my research, there was some very controversial (would have been for me as well) comments and "lesson plans" that were to accompany this speech. All of which graced the ideology of socialism...how our children could "help the president" (right on the heels of some VERY CONTROVERCIAL policy)...which may seem minute, but we aren't to serve the president, but our country and our God! Needless to say, helping the President achieve his goals is a big departure from encouraging students to set and attain their own goals...but This very thinking and coercion is what coaxed the Germans into accepting Hitler (and we know where that led!).
There is more that fueled this outcry! Some school districts have shown a video know as "I Pledge" that features Hollywood and pop music celebrities calling for students to make a pledge to do something great. But the things pledged by the celebrities include everything from advancing stem cell research to refusing to use plastic bags at the supermarket. Near the end, the video makes this appeal: "I pledge to be of service to Barack Obama." Some of the goals listed on the "I Pledge" video are praiseworthy, but some are downright WRONG!
Now, that being said...I do believe that the end result (minus the video) was what seemed to be a very good speech to our youth encouraging them to strive for excellence (STRONGLY DUE TO THE OUTCRY OF CHRISTIANS-IT WAS CHANGED AND THE LESSON PLANS WERE REMOVED)! I do believe that a speech like that from our President can make a huge impact in the lives and attitudes of our children, and without the embedded agenda, makes for a positive challenge from an influential person!
I can't agree more with you about the influences we are allowing to indoctrinate our families.
Aunt Marian...WELL SAID, TOO!! We as Christians have a huge responsibility to pray for and lift up our President!
I can tell you that I agree with VERY LITTLE that he is doing, but all the more reason to PRAY for him!
When we Christians become so self righteous that we can't even identify when he does something good, we've definitely lost the ears of the ones that needed to hear what we should be saying (in love)!
Marcos Figueroa