I have seen some shocking things on the news. I once saw a decapitated body in a burned out car on CNN. That was tough to watch. But yesterday's news coverage of President Obama's back to school speech easily surpassed my horror of the decapitated body. I have never been so flabbergasted in my entire life! I watched in utter horror and shock as interview after interview and blog after blog and tweet after tweet talked about how awful it was that the President wanted to speak to school children. If a foreigner had been watching the news yesterday (9/08/09), he or she would have thought the President was conspiring with the children to overthrow the government of Japan. What a crock! One parent interviewed, who seemed very agitated, stated that she went to her daughter's school and snatched her out so that the child could not see the speech. What kind of mess is that. You didn't want your child to hear a speech encouraging her to stay in school? You didn't want your child to hear a speech about hanging tough and staying focused so that she can graduate? You didn't want your child to hear a speech about what a good education can do? Even the Secretary of Education said that President Obama's speech was not unprecedented. President Ronald Reagan did it and so did President George H.W. Bush. What is the problem here? What is wrong with this picture? CNN wouldn't say it. The local news affiliates wouldn't say it so I am going to say it. And, I'm sorry to tell my colleagues that it wasn't just politics that caused the American public to go berserk about the Obama back to school speech. It was something more deeply rooted and ingrained in this country's past. CNN reported that 99.9% of the feedback from the public concerning the President's back to school speech was negative. That's more than just politics as usual people. Although protests erupted along party lines when President Bush gave his school children address, it was nothing like the public outcry against President Obama.
Thank God President Obama had the wherewithal to know that many of the country's school children are under such pressures that they indeed needed a pep talk on the first day of school. All of yesterday's ruckus was distracting and took our focus off some of the real problems we need to be discussing. We need to talk about the alarming high school dropout rate in some of our communities. We need to talk about how the jailhouse is full of men and women who didn't finish high school and how we can save more children from this same fate. Wake up, people. Our children are in trouble. Not every parent is as attentive as might believe. Our children are dying everyday from sheer neglect. Send President Obama's back to school speech to every child you know. Read it to every child you know.
Our children need an encouraging word. Speak to them about the importance of staying in school and finding their talents and making a contribution in their communities and the world.
