Is America the Land of the Free? A Take on Obama's Speech to School Children

I may not be a U.S. Citizen but I find it troubling that a simple speech of President Barack Obama wants to do and address school age children is getting a lot of negative thoughts. The speech will be delivered on September 8, in what the Department of Education is touting as a "historic" speech, President Obama will be talking directly to students across the U.S., live on the White House website.

Why on earth would people be troubled about indoctrination? A president is a president and it is his duty to take care of the citizens of his country. Why don't they express this when Presidents George Bush and Ronald Reagan both gave speeches aimed specifically at students that were nationally televised. Is it because Barack Obama is black? Is it because he wants reforms in the system? Why are they very afraid? It is simply not worth it.

Jim Greer, the chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, came out swinging against the planned speech. An excerpt from his statement:

"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," Jim Greer, the chairman of the Republican Party of Florida says.

These children are not forced to agree, Obama simply wants to address them and tell them why studying is important. He wants to inspire children to become agents of social change. Greer, simply is afraid that America will be a lot pro-people than pro-capitalist and elitist.

The Cato Institute, a public-policy research foundation, is even more out of its context and mind. The institute issued a press release entitled "Hey Obama, Leave Those Kids Alone," criticizing the "troubling buzzwords" in the lesson plans:

"It's one thing for a president to encourage all kids to work hard and stay in school – that's a reasonable use of the bully pulpit. It's another thing entirely, however, to have the U.S. Department of Education send detailed instructions to public schools nationwide on how to glorify the president and the presidency, and push them to drive social change."

I do not think that it is glorifying the president in anyway, it is making these kids participate in the building of the American nation. Fear is soaking in that the next generation of kids in America will be pro-reform and less conservatives. That is what their fear is all about.

Obama is not set on indoctrinating the kids, he is set in order to deliver a message that education is one of the prime needs in life and that they are entitled to a better education. The state provides education and they should also strive to be good students.

Is America the land of the free or is it really still a discriminatory society? You decide.


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