~ What's the Big Deal? ~

by Tina~in_ut

I wasn't even aware that the President was going to speak on Tuesday until I read that LynnD was upset last week. Whenever that happens, I look up Yahoo news or CNN to try and figure out what has happened to upset her. I saw that the President was going to give a speech to the nation's children and that some people were upset about it. I just couldn't fathom why. I read that conservatives were concerned that the President was going to force his ideology on impressionable young minds. All I could think of was, "You've got to be kidding me!" He's the President. You listen to him. He will obviously (obvious to me anyway!) have to speak to their level. He's not going to stand there and in one breath tell the kids to stay in school and then turn around and try to explain Health Care Reform to them. That's insane.

I may not have voted for the man, or agree with most anything that he says, but I was brought up to respect my elders (except the really, really old like DeeDee!) and those in authority. This whole mess is just another example of people not respecting others. When I was young, I rarely saw a parent questioning or challenging a teacher or principal. Now it's an every day occurrence. At work, I oftentimes see co-workers going over supervisor's heads to speak to a manager. I realize that sometimes it's warranted, but rarely. Whether you want your children to watch the speech or not, what kind of message are we sending them by making such an issue out of this?

After talking to Dianne on Thursday, I realized that I hadn't asked my husband how he was handling this "issue" at his school. Well I didn't have to. He came home from work on Friday all fired up! His words: "I'm damned if I do, and I'm damned if I don't!" The directive from the Diocese is to show the speech and follow the lesson plan (which I hadn't heard about), but to let those parents who want to, keep their children home if they do not want them to watch. The school isn't equipped to show the speech to each class at the same time. They have decided that since the speech will be online, they will wait and show it and follow the lesson plan. Half the parents have asked him, "You aren't showing that, are you?" while the other half are asking, "You are showing that, aren't you?" One parent has already told him that she is keeping her child at home because she wants him to watch it live!

Kids aren't Democrats or Republicans. THEY ARE KIDS!!!! Listening to the President of the United States encourage them to get a good education is a good thing. Listening to him tell them to stay in school is a good thing. Listening to him tell them to not do drugs is a good thing. Just the fact that he's addressing them IS A GOOD THING. Some are saying that his approval rating is down and he's trying to boost it with this "stunt"! Children have no clue and don't care and parents need to shut the hell up about it around them and have some respect! Happy Labor Day!~