School: Not a Place for Politics

It was called to my attention just a few moments that President Obama plans to give a speech to students grades K-12 on September 8, 2009 (day after Labor Day). My immediate reaction was, I must admit, annoyance. Why would we be forced to listen to this speech? I didn't really want to be required to do anything related to politics at school. Then, I read into this topic on Yahoo! News, and I sighed in relief. No public (especially private) schools were required to air the speech during school hours; it was strongly "encouraged".

Some quotes from other bloggers were given. One ninth grader seemed quite upset that his school wasn't airing the speech. Many people are outraged, and many are accepting of this idea of President Obama's speech. I, for one, don't see the point of doing this. In my opinion, it seems a bit like President Obama is trying too hard to reach out - are little kindergarteners really going to understand that importance of reforming education? No. Having a little sister in kindergarten, I can assure you that after a few minutes of watching the speech, she would start to fidget and think of what she was going to do at recess, not the complex discussion of why education is necessary in today's society.

Yes, many highschoolers might be eager to watch President Obama because they are still pro-Obama since his campaign days advocating "Change". I would not be one of those highschoolers. Whether it be former President Bush or former President Clinton, I have no desire to do anything politically-related at school if forced. It is my strong belief that political discussions should be saved for club-related activities or chitter-chatter in the halls with peers, not for school-advocated functions.

I do hope that the public schools who are airing the speech during school hours are allowing parents to have the option of keeping their child from watching the speech, if they so choose. It'd be wrong not to leave that option open.