In the days leading up to President Obama's speech, there was a lot of talk about schools or classes boycotting the speech, about parents refusing to allow their children to view the speech, and even of kid's themselves choosing to "opt-out." As a history teacher I began to worry, "Is this kind of reaction good for our democracy?" I, of course, believe that dissent is healthy in our kind of system. People should speak up when they disagree with our political leaders. Not only is this a fundamental right, but our civic duty to do so. What do you think about this? Should students be exposed to views from all sides? Why?
Having now watched the speech, and given its straight forward message, what do you think about it? Do you think that the president was right to avoid discussing any of the big political issues of the day?
I talked with a few 8th grade students after they viewed the speech in class, and they thought that it was the same kind of message that they hear from their teachers and parents all of the time - stay in school, work hard , and so on. If that is true, then does that kind of message have a bigger impact on students when they hear it from someone like the president? If so, why?
Finally, I think it is worth comparing the president's speech to those of some of his predecessors. Watch the speeches of Presidents Reagan and Bush (the 1st President Bush) provided below. How are they different or similar to President Obama's in style and substance? Who's is most powerful? Which do you think had a bigger impact on students when they were delivered? Do you think that speeches like this are worth a president time to prepare or deliver?
I look forward to your comments.
President Obama's Speech
President Obama’s Message for America’s Students from White House on Vimeo.
Click here for President Bush's Speech.
President Reagan's Speech
As always, I encourage you to share your work with your parents. I also welcome parent comments on our blog.
Posts
62 comments:
I think this address to the students of the United States is almost useless because to me it's better when our parents tell us to do good in school we want to please them. When the president tells us to do good he can't check up on our progress unlike our parents. I also think other speeches are just as unimportant because they are like Obama's. We should still listen to speeches because they show us a different perspective on how to see the world.
I believe that President Obama's speech was directing attenetion to the fact that we need a good education if we're ever going to do something productive in our lives. Which means that we need to rise to the occasion, and that occasion is our lives. We must work as hard as we can to recieve a quality education and that we have to use that education to the best of our abilities.
Chase Y agrees with Jonathan because I know there are a lot of kids who want to get rich and live well but that all has to start with a good education. I mean I honestly think that every kid should go to school wanting a good education to be productive in life. Also my parents and President Obama telling me to get a good education are two different things because my parents always tell me to get a good education but I don't necessarly have to hear that a lot because I just want a good education automatically, but the President got a way better education than my parents so that is more motivating to me. I think that the Presidents speech will have a good impact on kids throughout america.
Meera: I think that Breanne, Chase and Jonathan all are right we should all start with having a good education because thats very important to acheive what you want to be when your a grown up. The speach by the president is correct because doing good in school will not ownly make parents proud benefit us in life. President Obama is saying this because he wants all of us to succed our goals in school so parents should not tell there kids not to watch it because this a something important they need to know about hard work ion school.
I think Jonathan and chase were right because a great future starts with a great education and if you are not motivated to do well in school then you keep up with the same bad habits. However if you listened to Obama's speech you'd know that by encouraged one another to do good like Obama's speech should have encouraged you, then you can do better in school.
I definitely agree with Jonathan. The president was reminding us how important our education is, and how a good education is the key to having a happy life. It also helped that he included a story about how he started school at his house. This shows that even though he started with nothing, he got an education which enabled him to become president of the United States. That could make some students think, "Obama just needed an education to become someone as important as the President, so if I get a good education, I should be able to get the job of my dreams when I grow up." I think this would definitely inspire someone to do well in school.
I think that Chase, Meera, Jonathan, Kenny, and Connor are all right. I disagree with Breanne. This speech is not useless. It is an inspirational speech because it is from the president. We know that our parents expect us to do well, but when it comes from a president that started out similar to us it makes us want to do even better than we already have. The three stories he told about the kids that grew up in some of the worst conditions, but got the education they needed to reach their goals, makes me feel like if I set my mind to it, I can accomplish anything I want. Like the quote on Mr. Veliz's webpage that says "The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and
falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark." - Michelangelo. We set our goals at a mark that lets us just barely pass by when we should give it our all and if we are to fail then we can at least say that we tried. This speech from President Obama has restored faith in me that I can be whatever I want if I try hard enough.
I would agree that it is something you hear from parents and teachers. I would like to say that it is better when the president says this because hopefully it gets the kids attention. Kids don't always like listening to there parents so if the president says this hopefully more kids will listen and do as told
hey fellas, i think Mr Veliz said we can blog in other classes blogs so here i go
let me be concise
the speech was uneeded...
kids need to learn the values that make this nation great
but many people are sheltering the kids so that we are brain washed into a socialist reigme.
well to conclude i say disagree with me, i enjoy a great arugment
I disagree with Robby the speech was not unneeded because being expected to do good by your teacher or parent is one thing and by the president is another.In what way is this speech brainwashing anyone Robert?
I think that it is ok for students to be exposed to different views but not ones that are bad. The President didn't do that so it is ok for me to listen to what he has to say. I don't agree with a lot of what the President believes in, but i can listen to it.
Dylan i would agree with that to
I think students should be exposed from all sides so they can understand the situation and give their opinion. I thought the speech was very straight forward and he did what he was supposed to do. I don't think he he had to address anything else. After hearing the speech I think it was a little different that hearing the same stuff from our parents. Therefore I think it had a bigger impact. All of the speeches are pretty basic and clear. I liked how Obama talked about his personal life as a kid, the other president didn't really talk about their own life. This is why I personally liked Obama's speech the best. I believe that a speech from the president should be prepared whenever possible.
I agree with the people saying that we should be exposed to the different sides, but I don't think that the speech was greatly needed. President Obama basically set a straight out speech about how kids should stick to education and how important it is, but we always hear it from our parents, so what is the use? I agree that maybe for some people this speech was inspiring and maybe it will kick in the brain that education is important, but what about the people that know the education is the key to life and opens so many doors?
I am totally neutral to the speech and all I can say is that I don't agree to everything but can understand the purpose of this speech.
Also Robby I can sorta agree that this speech may have been to kinda to convince us students to focus on education and how they put it through the president to steer us toward the educational way, but brainwashing I think is a bit too far.
Meera: I first agreed with you Breanne but when you say that the this speech was useless. This speech was important as Tiye had said. The president was telling us was not a waste because hearing his own opinion would maybe change other people's and kids' opinion and it would give us some courage and support to acheive our goals.
Chase Y says: I think every kid out there should have there education as there top priority because if you don't have a good education you will go absolutely no were in your life. I think this address to kids and there education should really open up there eyes.
Good job so far. Remember, state your idea and then back it up with examples and/or facts. Keep it up.
I think that the presidents address was alot like what you hear your parents say every day, stay in school and try your best, but some students may think that their parents have to say that just because they are their parents. On the other hand when students hear the president tell them to do good in school they get inspired because they know that if they listen to him they could be where he is some day. I think the president is trying to say that we need to try and get the best education that we can and use that education to help build our futures.
- Mallory Gl.
I completley agree with Breanne, the spech was pointless. i mean, how many times have we heard that same stuff from our parents and our teachers? tons. He told me things i already knew, and bassiclay things i wasn't intrested in hearing. I think he should've adressed the big political issues that people are worried about. This was his chance to open up childrens eyes all over the world, because so many children look up to him; but instead he chose to tell us common knowledge. I think that we should be open to all political veiws, weather good or bad, because it teaches us what's really going on, and if we dont like what we hear, maybe we'll get up and do something about it.
- Ana S.
I sort of agree with Mallory Gre. because some stuff I already knew and others I didn't know about. I totally believe what Kenny said because if you don't like going to school and doing well you won't have a bright future.
I liked how the senior class president opened his speech and it really made me want to listen. I really liked the part when President Obama was discussing about why you should have good grades. Our parents believe that we (students) should get good grades no matter what we do outside of school.
I don't think that President Obama made a good choice to skip the importance of political issues of the day. I would like to hear about things that are happening in our economy, life, and the plan for our future.
This is Maggie everyone. Read what I say because I want you to.
Personally I don't think it was necessary for parents to take their kids out of class because they didn't support Obama. Just because some parent wants to give the president a black eye doesn't mean that their child wants to give the president a kiss on the cheek. Parents should let their children be able to decide for themselves, especially at our age.
I think you should listen to both sides of an election. Let's say the next presidential election is between a monkey and a zebra. The monkey's speech is about lowering banana prices, and the zebra's speech is about creating more farms in America. You should listen to both sides because you might really like bananas and think that farms are so-so. If you only listened to the zebra's speech and went for him, that would be a pretty dumb choice because you probably would have really wanted to go for the monkey because you are a HUGE fan for bananas.
Okay so the question asking about avoiding big political issues thing...I'm really glad Obama didn't start talking about "Oh, our economy is on the suck-ish side right now" or "Health care reforms..blah blah blah" because I mean truthfully, I honestly don't care about our economy and stuff right now. I'm sure I will later when I grow up and stuff, but right now,it's not really like...interesting.
His speech about if you drop out of school you will fail your country...that was all very nice and well done, but I'd prefer it if future presidential speeches were shorter. Obama's speech about working hard in school really is the same speech that your teachers and parents give you. I listened to his speech closely and everything, but it didn't have any impact on me. I guess it's because I don't know him. Obama might have just lied and made this whole thing up you know? If it was someone I knew and trusted, giving that speech,I think it would have made a bigger impact on me. (Because I know they aren't lying about this)
This is all I'm going to say for now. For now.
Um im blogging from F period(: My favorite part was when he said we should be what we wanna do when we get older, we can just be ourselves. Like I want to be a famous actress/singer so I will do as much as possible to reach that dream.
Maggie, i somewhat agree, but i'd rather him dumb down all the stuff thats going on in our goverment so we can understand, so i know whats going on. I don't like it when my entire family is talking about it, and i don't know whats going on at all; and because they have different political veiws, i'm going to hear different versions from everyone of them.
In a way i agree with Robbie and in a way i don't. i sorta agree because we have been hearing the same thing but simpler since we were in kindergarten but disagree because so many people don't go to collage and hearing it from the president will encourage more people to do well. i think how they had that one kid talk and introduced the president and talk about the topic probably helped the point of the speech to.
I agree with Mallory Gre. and Breanne because this speech meant nothing to me, i believe he should have gave his speech when we were all at home where are parents could agree or disagree and help us understand if we didnt get something instead of a teaxher having to, i also believe that the other speech's were a little more about the true history of America and that we should stay in school, work hard, etc. I also believe that when are parents tells us its more on a personal level, and possibly more forceful level, but i think anyone how saw the speech got the message that he wants us to do as go as we can and try to work to are abilitys as best we can. :D
Meera:I agree with Tiye this speech was important and will inspire kids to work harder even if they are not sure about something.
i also agree because the speech was explaining how this is important and considering the president took his time to talk to the high-school might encourage more kids to do well then your parents yelling at you about grades and our future.
I kind of agree with maggie because we do need to hear about the economy and our government and stuff like that but it is also important to hear the president say that we need to be focused on our education because staying in school and getting an education will help us have brighter futures.
-Mallory Gl.
David Y- I do agree with most of the people. I think the speech was great. Its good to see the President of the United States to actually tell us how important education is. For example, President Obama didn't come from the best background, didn't live in the best place, but now he is the leader of our country. I think this will help us remember that no matter the race or where you're from, with education you can achieve anything you want.
I think that the President adressing to the students was a good thing. I disagree with Breanne because people don't always listen to thair parents and so they might think its unimportant if their parents say "Stay in school," because its just another one of their parents rules. If its the President thats telling the students to stay in school, then I think that the kids will listen more to him. Also I personally think it was a good idea for Obama to give examples of kids that had a bad start and worked their way up to get scholarships and good jobs. I'm glad that instead of giving examples on how things could go wrong if you don't get an education, Obama gave positive examples on how you can be sucussful with a proper education. Obama's speech and the first President Bush's speech were alike in saying to stay in school, but they were both diferent from Reagon's speech because Reagon focused mainly on issues within the government and how the students could help. I think that people should see all of the speeches that the President makes because I think that they need to make their own opinions about the President and what he thinks rather than listening to what other people say and going by that.
Ana- I think that Kaley from F period is right because we do have a chance to reach our dream/goal, if we want to, but we have to stay in school to do that Also I think Maggie is right too because people should see both sides. Sometimes you agree with both sides(1/2 and 1/2)and thats ok because if you have different point of views you can always explain why or why not.
I think that if you stay in school and not drop out you will succeed and President Obama explained that really well.
I like how President Obama chooses his words to reach out for people like in this speech and it DID really reach out to me, but it could of been better by getting into more detail such as dropping out (giving reasons to).
:) :0 :) :0 :) :0 :) :0 :) :0
i agree with David because it is a lot more inspirational coming from the president that had grown up with a poor family with only a mom and many siblings.
Wow. Alot of people commented.
Well I agree with Allison that this speech was made out to everyone that students, so the speech wasn't useless but still we hear that stuff from our parents, so not saying that this speech was useless but still insprational.
sammmie m. I agree with David yu. even though are parents tell us that school is important it is nice comming from a president. Mr.obama didint have all the things we had so i think is speech will remind us to take advantage of all the good stuff we have. Because most students dont take full advantage and just do the minium and exspect to do great.
sammie m. I disagree with robby c. Even though are parents always tell us school is good. It doesnt hurt to here it from Mr.Obama does it now?
thats not waht i said kenny,
read it over and over until you get ir
oohhh that was painful
and from a friend ooohhh, it can come from anyone and you can or cannot listen eh,
read f period Samel Jacob Melles
I agree with Breanne because i dont think the president has the potential to connect with kids of the United States on a level we and him can both comprehend. Also it is more refreshing to know that our parents or guardian will be telling us insted of just some man that won an election that we don't personally know.The Obama speech to me is simlar to the rest of the speeches because they all just sound the same and arnt origanal in any way.
~Jarrett L. M.~
I really don't like this speech because who is he to tell us about this stuff. I agree 100% with what Breanne said.
Tiye yours is great i think the same. I don't care what group you like but you should all listenin to something the presidents says. We all know that are parents say the same but it doesn't hurt to here more than once if it helps us do better!
Tori: I disagree with Breanne. I think President Obama's speech very inspiring and useful. I think he made a really good point about how kids these days make excuses of why they don't get good grades. His speech inspired me to want to try harder in school and be the best I can be at all things I want to do in life. He made a good point about how people out there right now struggling are graduting from some the top colleges in the world. To me the main point of his whole speech was to try your best in your education and try to succeed in whatever you do.
okay, i just read all 43 comments, and i changed my mind. the speach wasn't usless after all, because it came form our President, who many people look up to and are inspired by. This speach could've been what helped some kid somehwere pass his math test, or study that much harder. It was a pretty great speach, and Obama did well.
and sorry Mr. Veliz, i'm a bad speller.
I just got back from the tampa game against the cowboys so, sorry im posting this so late. I agree with everyone who said it was pointless. We have all heard this speech from our parents, teachers and friends. Its basiccly saying do good in school, try your best, and study hard. Regans speech was better because he adressed other things like the drug stopping thing and space and all the different countries and how they and us are the same and different and the future. Lastly he should've asked for questions because some parts where confusing. So I onestly think this speech was pointless.
I agree with Carson. It doesn't matter what President we like, but we can listen to it and hear other people's opinions.
In my opinion, the speech was pretty useless. I'm just saying that Obama's speech did not have any impact on me.
Sincerely,
Maggie
Tori: I totally agree with Jonathan. I think President Obama really wants the kids of America to succeed in what ever they do. He wants everyone to do the best at what they do even adults that are going to work and some that are even going to school to.
I believe that all students should be able to have watched this speech because it promoted many good ideas for carrer choices and that all students should always give one hundred ten percent to all the things that they whish to acomplish in their life. This speech also stated that staying school would help you achive that accomlishment.
Hey,
I just wanted to say that many kids should watch Obama's speech because he is our president and we need to respect that. I dont care if you do not like him or not.
i disagree with mallory gre. because as a kid i really could care less about the acutal political facts because there are so many of them that eventually it gets boring. If u really don't want to watch the presidental speech then you should because no one is forcing you to watch it (except this time). Sure our parents tell us to get a good education, but do we really listen? I think not!! Would we listen if it came from the president? Totally!! So whether your a democrat or republican (doesn't matter, we cant vote) you should still listen to what the president has to say because he's gonna be running the country for the next 4 years, so deal with it!!!
I think that all students should get that information and be able to debate it freely amongst themselves. WE all should be able to finally take in the he IS our president there is nothing we can do about it now and that we all should respect hid speaking. Yes he did tell us a lot of what we hear in school and i think that students get it better from him because he is a person of higher value and he really wants us to do our best. I know our teachers do to but i really think that he is looking forward to that when he stops being president we all will have great futures and in four years we should be ready to take our first step forward into what life really is. Business, money, and family. HE is really trying to give us the best future we can have and i think that when he is talking we should respect that. - Jazzy
I agree with deanna and disagree with breanne's first comment because its not useless he is really trying to tell us something. Yes we all want to please our parents but we really should do our best. I agree with Jonathan.
HEy guys come check out my blog at:
http://jazzysrockinblogsite.blogspot.com/
Nice job. Good dialogue so far. Finish strong!!
I think that students should be exposed to all sides when they are addressing this, or any subject, so that they get all of the facts so they can make an educated judgment. Although in my opinion I think that many people were overreacting when they chose to opt out of seeing President Obama's speech, I feel that everyone should have their say in whether or not their children should see this speech.
I think that it was very wise of President Obama to only discuss education in his speech because if he had discussed the political issues, then it might not have had as great of an impact on the students. To me when my mom tells me something I try to follow what she tells me to do, but when the leader of the country agrees with her I'd tend to listen a little bit more. So yes I do think that there is more of an effect on the students to do more when the President has something to say.
Finally, I think that both Regan and Obama were both great at giving an effective speech, but Obama was wiser about giving a straight forward educational speech for students. I didn't think much of Bush's speech because he had good intentions but it lacked personality and the wording seemed too simple for the age group.
I agree with Jonathan that it is our responsibility as students to get a good education so that we have a productive future. I disagree with Breanne that the speech is useless because the President can't check up on our progress because the message of the speech is to take responsibility for our education so we don't need anyone to check up on us.
I disagree with Robby C. because how can a speech brainwash someone if it's just offering advice to America's youth to take advantage of the education our schools are providing? Also, the President did not include his political views during the speech on our education.
I think that Mallory Gre is right :) because he got elected president and we SHOULD listen to him.
Like I said before I think that he makes great speeches and when he does read them aloud I listen because he might have an important message in hand. I like how he orgainizes his speeches too!
Although some people don't like the concept of this speech I do because it teaches you how you can be better in school!!
Mr. Veliz rules!!! :)
In Maggie's longest comment, (:) she explains the problem very well by using characters like a monkey and a zebra and that helps me picture the whole intire problem in my mind, clearly.
Some of the info in this speech is useless and unuseless, but for the most part it is unuseless because it gives you important facts about the importance of education in the U.S.. I liked how it is very imformative about why we should go to school instead of not even going at all.
SEE YOU TOMMORROW MR. VELIZ!!!!
Post a Comment