On September 8 President Obama traveled to Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia to speak on the importance of education to school aged children all over the country.
His speech touched on his own past experiences and his principle on how current students are the future of our country. Obama focused a lot of the speech on the power that the individual has on themselves and their responsibilities. “But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, the best schools in the world -- and none of it will make a difference, none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities…That's what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education,” said Obama.
Before the speech was commenced many school districts were receiving a lot of complaints. Some parents did not want their children and schools to be “…turned over to some socialist movement,” stated Brett Curtis a father from Texas ( NY times). However other parents and school faculty members argued that the speech was optional to view and that it was “absolutely voluntary.”
“There was a lot of talk about his speech before and after it occurred I think it was a very important message to send out to school-aged children especially if its coming from such a respectable and prominent figure in our country, maybe it will be taken more seriously,” said junior, Lauren Telban.
Obama also referred to personal experiences like how his own father left him when he was a child in order to let the students know that not everyone, even the president, started out perfectly. He also referred to other specific peoples’ struggles: “Young people like Jazmin Perez, from Roma, Texas. Jazmin didn't speak English when she first started school. Neither of her parents had gone to college. But she worked hard, earned good grades, and got a scholarship to Brown University…” explaining how others were also able to succeed despite their childhood obstacles.
One student had a remark on a part of the speech that she found controversial “…I was caught off guard when he talked about how TV stars, rappers and athletes were successful without having to work hard, that stuck out to me as slightly upsetting to some and maybe not the best thing to tell the youth,” said Sofia Chang-Depuy.
However other students had positive feedback on the national address, senior Brian Melanson said: “I’m not sure why anyone would not agree to letting their child listen to the speech, it was only to influence kids in a positive way, encouraging everyone to try hard because everyone has a chance to succeed. You know, it probably changed a few kids’ minds.”
“The future of America depends on you,” the president stated as he began to wrap up the speech that was viewed by children and adults alike around the country.
Sources:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-in-a-National-Address-to-Americas-Schoolchildren/
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/04/us/04school.html?scp=1&sq=obama%20school%20speech&st=cse
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