Comments on: Our Hometown: Kids Serious and Thrilled About Obama’s Speech

By: aficionadaa

aficionadaa — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 06:47:51 +0000

Thanks kathykattenburg : I think I 'll need some help next times ! Je vais bien en avoir besoin.

By: Ghostdreams

Ghostdreams — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 06:16:22 +0000

When I first heard about Obama's speech to the school kids it was via a vaguely histrionic headline that said (something to the effect of), "THAT SOCIALIST IS TRYING TO BRAINWASH OUR CHILDREN!!"
I sat here shocked and a somewhat bemused.
I was also very concerned.
The idea that some of the media would be suggesting to our children that our President has an such an agenda as to "brainwash" them seemed worrisome to me.
Oh yes, I agree with all the tenets of "question authority," but if children aren't allowed to even HEAR what the President of the country has to say to them, what is there to question? What is there for them to think about? How do they learn to "think" if nothing is given them to think about?
How can we expect our kids to apply analytic thought to the issues of the day (political, religious, philisophical, etc) if we refuse to let them know that the issues exist?
Recently, I read a small blurb at the Foundation for Critical Thinking website (on the page for education) that said, "one cannot think analytically FOR NO PURPOSE. Or think analytically, with NO QUESTION in mind."
With our children...if we purposely take away all the hard questions ...all the important issues ... with the intention of "saving them" from worry and concern and to keep them "innocent"...I believe we're doing them a great injustice.
Yes, there are subjects that are not age appropriate as any educator would know, this but the whole hysteria over the Presidents speech was bizarre, at the very least (IMHO).
I also feel that children, who are our brightest and best and the future of us all, are sorely underestimated.

Thank you for the post Doc!
Ghost

By: Leebot

Leebot — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 00:13:58 +0000

Thank you for this. I think these days the cavalier labeling with words like “Socialist,” “Nazi” and “Marxist” is an intellectually lazy trick of applying hyperbole to describe a difference of philosophy. Really, is it that overwhelming to the psyche? Some people's reaction to political difference of opinion and other forms of diversity seemingly requires a complete ritual of exorcism, a diminishing of the person to the extent s/he must be entirely dismissed with a turning of the back, crossing the arms and plugging the ears “nanana can't hear you.” Concerns or questions that might be easily remedied by respectful communication are jettisoned in favor of warnings of indoctrination and all kinds of “mellerdramer.” (The word “indoctrination” strikes me as ironically misdirected in this case. Why oh why am I thinking of that song, “You must be carefully taught?”) And how tragic to underestimate our kids.

I'll tell you a story about Sister Devota, my sixth-grade social studies teacher at Our Lady of Fatima in Lakewood, circa 1972. She would have been in her late 50s, possibly 60s at that time, perhaps you know whether she is still living — but with one sentence she impressed upon me a lifelong lesson. I wish she could know that. She was teaching a unit about Hindu society and religion, describing the caste system, the worship of cows, the belief in reincarnation, and other concepts that were struck a lot of us as — well, wacky. One boy said in a sneering tone: “That's WEIRD.” She jumped on that quickly. “No, it's not WEIRD . . it's DIFFERENT.” The room fell silent. Wow. I was only eleven then, but in one short pithy comment she demonstrated the concept of non-judgmentalism, tolerance, acceptance of diversity.

Anyway, thanks again for your excellent post.

By: kathykattenburg

kathykattenburg — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 21:26:51 +0000

aficionadaa,

Je peux parler un peu francais (pas trop!). Mais je pourrait (?) heureux de vous aider avec les mots Anglais si vous voulait.

By: roro80

roro80 — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 21:07:32 +0000

What a lovely article, Dr. E. Thanks for sharing.

By: aficionadaa

aficionadaa — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 19:22:54 +0000

Dear Spirasol,
Sorry if I've missed your point (I'm reading with my french-english dictionnary). Just wanted to say that even if the message is “communication”, some kind of political marketing, the symbol may be important for young people. I agree with you about the fear of the parents.

By: aficionadaa

aficionadaa — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 19:07:52 +0000

Thank you so much to encourage me Tidbits! (reading this blog for more than a year and being afraid to write something). Merci merci !

By: DLS

DLS — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 18:42:20 +0000

Spirasol, the source you linked to has another article that is also appropriate here in the USA.

http://www.reason.com/news/show/126020.html

It's this that is partially why there is concern about Obama's speech to school children.

By: DLS

DLS — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 17:43:15 +0000

Super D.: Just a quick note from here in Detroit Metro, in Michigan, where less than thirty days remain to getting a balanced budget achieved by Lansing, the state capital. (Yes, it is “amusing” in a perverse way.) Currently we're seeing resistance to even the slightest changes by unions — there's a Democrat, of all people, who wants to consolidate (to unify) all the union health care contracts in this state, and of course the fiefdom-ruling, feather-bedding unions are aghast at the prospect. Meanwhile, there is one college where the professors are going out on strike. (They should be facing loss of pay and even the prospect of termination and forfeiture of current and retirement benefits, pay, of all kinds for doing this.) What's one of the reasons the profs are going on strike? They're being asked to participate in a new health care plan, among other things, that includes the kind of lifestyle-related stuff the lefty activists are so enamored of currently (diet, exercise, etc., obscession), and those found to have lifestyle problems are being asked to pay more for their health insurance or health care (exactly what activists want for us all). There's one judge that has pulled negotiating teams into his chambers (talk about overreach, to say the very least!) and that's just for one of several problems involving the unions in this state — so far there is no overdue reform of “prevailing wage” (artificially high labor-controlled wage rate) legislation, et cetera.

By: spirasol

spirasol — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 15:48:46 +0000

Dear Aficionadaa,

it is easy to agree with what you say as well………..some children and parents may NEED to hear it. As the article suggests the message is light enough such that one could take it or leave it.

Ps: I'm in Scandinavia, and most here find it humorous that Obama would be seen as some crazy eyed liberal. Same as with the “public option” and “socialized medicine.” As we know most other 1st world countries already have it and most Euros have a hard time understanding what Americans are afraid of.

By: tidbits

tidbits — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 15:47:10 +0000

aficionadaa – Please comment more often. You have a keen but gentle perspective, and your views from outside the U.S. so instructive. I consistently enjoy reading what you have to say. Thank you.

By: aficionadaa

aficionadaa — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 12:40:36 +0000

Dear Spirasol,
Thanks for the article, I've just read it.
Just one thing to add : perhaps it's easy to agree with the message "hard work, sacrifices, gifts ...", perhaps it's easy to say it too. But in some cases, in some places, it's just useful to say it.

For instance, when children don't see their father waking up before 11 in the morning (no work for him).
It's hard to stay without a job, and sometimes people don't even feel the need to dress up (I don't say it's the rule, but it happens.) I think these children need to hear about"working hard, sacrifices ", they need to hear people saying , again and again, that it's not desesperate, that it works, that it means something.
One other thing : I've seen my black pupils being proud about Obama 's election (they don't feel concerned with politics), so I could imagine that for some students, it's important to hear him saying this message.
P.S. : from France it's funny to see Obama called "communist" because he's seen as a conservative (like Democrats).

By: superdestroyer

superdestroyer — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 12:24:25 +0000

To bad that the Obama Administraiton will not make one policy proposal that would make Edison Middle School more like Sidwell Friends or Chicago Lab School and less like most inner city schools. Maybe the students are Edison Middle school would have less to overcome if the school systems were not organized as a teachers jobs program first, political spoils second, and academic learning last.

By: spirasol

spirasol — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 10:14:26 +0000

Oh, just after I posted above I came across this very well reasoned and, I thought balanced article that others might like to read: here's the link: http://www.reason.com/news/show/135919.html

By: spirasol

spirasol — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 10:06:41 +0000

I find it easy to agree with Obama's message of hard work, sacrifice, gifts, and generally overcoming obstacles, both parents and students, to get ahead, to have a more fulfilling life, to better reach one's potential, etc.

More bewildering, are the reports of Obama's socialist/communist message and the need for parents to put their hands over their children's ears and eyes so as to prevent them from hearing and seeing such blasphemous rhetoric.

I must be out of touch…….I just don't get it………………I mean I get that it's politics, but the playing field has been reduced to a round or oval object, usually thought of as a toilet…………or so it seems

By: aficionadaa

aficionadaa — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 09:09:49 +0000

Dear Dr.E,
I want to tell you how it works here (I'm a teacher).
In the poorest towns near Paris, when a pupil is 14 or 15, and not very good at school, the teachers are saying to students : " don't try to go to highschool, it's better for you to learn quickly a job ", even if the pupil has a little chance to go to highschool at the end of the year (if he works hard).
And "everybody" is satisfied : the teachers, because it's easy to do their jobs, the parents because they think their children would have easily a job in two or three years (crisis here too), and the pupil because he thinks he is not well-gifted (for school), and he will quickly earn money, be independent.
It's hard to struggle against this idea if the parents aren't aware about the fact that it is a luck to spend even a year in highschool, studiyng "litterature, mathematics, arts etc.", that their children would have more choices, would meet other people, and would be more " open-minded" (as I think)
I said : "just try one year, to see if it's your way, later you will have more creativity or more responsabilities", because, in my opinion these pupils will not earn much money (for hard work), or only have to obey and not say anything in their professional lives.
I think this state of mind (some teachers, some parents) is linked with our choices of society, infortunately.
So thanks a lot for your column, well said (and thinked) as usual !

By: President Obama Says Kids Must Work Hard for Success (Despite What “The Hills” Teaches Them) | Gadget Look

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 07:39:30 +0000

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