The Kids Are Alright

When I was ten years old, I know how I would have responded when asked about being addressed by the President of the United States: "No way." I had no interest in hearing anything that Richard Nixon had to say. That went double for Ronald Reagan when I was in high school. I suppose if Jimmy Carter had a speech prepared for my junior high school ears, I might have lent a sympathetic ear. It has everything to do with the fact that I made my party affiliation at a very early age. And it stuck.
That is why I can understand the reaction of some parents and students to Barack Obama's planned address to students across the country via the White House web site. Next Tuesday, our current president will be talking to kids "about the importance of staying in school; how we want to improve our education system and why it’s so important for the country." Those were his words in an interview last month with journalist Damon Weaver. Damon is eleven years old. Damon was very enthusiastic about the upcoming speech.
Jim Greer, the chairman of the Republican Party of Florida who is not eleven, had this to say: "The address scheduled for September 8, 2009, does not allow for healthy debate on the President's agenda, but rather obligates the youngest children in our public school system to agree with our President's initiatives or be ostracized by their teachers and classmates."
As I said, I understand how kids might have trouble making up their minds about their personal politics. No one is forcing kids to watch. Schools are encouraged, not required to air the speech. Still, there are those who consider this brainwashing, especially when you add in the curriculum that is being sent along with the words the president will speak. The Department of Education has a guide, with questions for students to consider as they listen. Questions like: "What is the President trying to tell me? What is the President asking me to do?"
We teach third and fourth graders about persuasive writing. We teach them the difference between fact and opinion. We teach them right from wrong. I sat with a library full of elementary school kids last January watching the inauguration of our country's first African-American president. We teach them history. Now maybe we can see what they've learned.