Following are my thoughts on President Obama's education speech (that is to air tomorrow at schools around the country) and the "I pledge" video (that I assume is also to air). I have simply copied this from my facebook page, so it's not great writing... just a few opinions...
I just finished reading the transcript for President Obama's speech tomorrow and viewing the "I pledge" video. If you want to know what I think (which, I can't really figure why anyone would, but ya know...) read my comments to this status update...
In my opinion, President Obama's speech, itself, had VERY LITTLE to object to. I find it perfectly acceptable that the President of the United States would want to address school children to encourage them to continue their education, to find their talents, and to do their best. I felt that President Obama said many of the same things that I say, myself, to youth when I am trying to teach responsibility. I thought that some of the content was a little over the heads of young children (for example, Caleb, who starts Kindergarten tomorrow, is not going to "get it" all). My only real concern beyond that was that there was no obvious connection to faith, but I don't expect that from something that will be shown in public schools. It is my job, as a parent, to make those connections for my kids.
The "I Pledge" video had a few positive moments, but for the most part it was pretty stupid and highly political. Mostly it made me think of a campaign ad. I thought they went a little over the top encouraging kids to pledge to serve President Obama, specifically. However, I do not think it is a bad concept to teach our children to be servants to others (although I don't believe this video really did that). My concern about the conservative commentary that went with the video is that it is assumed that children of all ages know who all of these celebrities are and respect them. Frankly, not a single one of my children would recognize even one of their faces or care in the least what they have to say (minus maybe Seth recognizing the team logo for the athlete who was featured). To be honest, I couldn't have named a single one.
I have to assume that a lot of these celebrities are associated with what I would consider trash in the entertainment world. If parents are allowing their kids to be influenced by these kinds of people, on a regular basis, to begin with, then we have a parental problem more than an extreme issue with a 2 minute video clip. I would have been a lot more concerned if the celebrities in question were Mickey Mouse and Corbin Bleu.
Final assessment... If we can find a way to watch only President Obama's speech, without the fluff of the video or commentary, we probably will. I haven't looked at the "lesson plans", but there are enough concepts in the speech, itself, that we will have our own responsible discussion about the importance of education and becoming the people that God has created us to be. Although I am not a huge supporter of President Obama (though I did like many of his ideas during the campaign), I will always teach my children to respect the President of the United States of America. Respect for authority is Biblical, and we don't always get to pick and choose just what we want that to mean...
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