Obama's Inspires Student With His Speech

On September 8th 2009, President Barack Obama stood in front of thousands of students and their families in Arlington, Virginia at the Wakefield High School to discuss the importance of education. As President Obama put it himself, “The future of America depends on you”. After hearing, Obama’s speech a majority of parents and students applauded his efforts to encourage all the students across the country to pursue their education and that “every single one of you has something to offer”. On the other hand, President Obama’s speech was met with some concerns and uproar amongst the more conservative citizens who accused him of “trying to indoctrinate their children with socialist ideas” most of them were worried that this may influence their kids in the wrong way.

After hearing President Obama’s speech, a UT junior Samantha Harlan was very impressed by Obama’s efforts and a little perturbed by the uproar that some parents were causing around the country “I do not understand what the problem is, I mean he is doing something useful and we still refuse to accept it? I just think that people that do not like him want something to pick on!” She was not the only one with the same belief, Senior Nikkia Parchment stated “I believe that Florida made a big mistake by not accepting the money that Obama offered to us for our education system, he is making an effort and doing something good for the country why can’t we just accept that?” When asked what they thought of the speech both Harlan and Parchment had similar views. “I really loved his speech; I definitely wish I was there because I was staring in awe at the television. It was inspirational. The President just has a certain charm about him.” Harlan stated.

The President’s speech caused uproar in many different states, but the one most reported about was in Texas. As reported in the New York Times, many parents in Texas refused to send their children to school that day as they did not want them to be influenced, a big fear was that they did not want the schools to start influencing their children with “socialist movements”. Some parents were concerned that “the speech had not been screened for political content. Nor, they said, had it been reviewed by the State Board of Education and local school boards, which, under state law, must approve the curriculum.” Senior Jessica Whitney was not very happy about this report, as she said, “being an education major, I was very excited about the Obama’s speech he was extremely inspirational and encouraged all students to stay in school. Looking at it from a teacher’s perspective there is absolutely no underlying socialist themes in his speech.” Whitney was not the only one who seemed disturbed by these reports. As a recently hired teacher and UT alumni Christina Gandia said “I think it is understandable why some parents might presume that Obama was trying to influence some socialist ideas, however I feel like that they media is trying to make this into a controversial news item when it doesn’t need to be. Obama delivered a fantastic speech and the parents should be happy that he is trying to keep their children in school.”

President Obama’s speech was very effective. As he states in his speech “I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you. So don’t let us down. Don’t let your family down or your country down. Most of all, don't let yourself down. Make us all proud.” Students all over the country should be inspired and motivated by this speech instead of criticizing the President’s efforts. Each and every individual who is pursuing his or her education has been given a chance to re-evaluate what they are doing and have been encouraged to succeed in life and aim for nothing but the best. In today’s world that is something that every student requires and President Obama delivered it with extreme ease and charisma.

References :-

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/04/us/04school.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=obama%20school%20speech&st=cse

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-in-a-National-Address-to-Americas-Schoolchildren/

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/08/obama-coaches-students-to-get-serious-and-study-hard/