Obama Coaches Students to ‘Get Serious’ and Study:
“The future of America depends on you,’’ the president declared, in one of the few departures from his script.
Seriously, is this going to make American kids buckle down and study?
The cackles from the Right and Left over President Obama’s back-to-school address have been amusing. Parents should discuss current events with their kids; they can use the speech as a teachable moment with their kids, mentioning where they agree or disagree with the president. But does anyone really think that the Prez telling students to study is going to raise achievement in this country? OK, I’m not saying that some people won’t be inspired. It’s a nice warm-and-fuzzy thing for the president to encourage the citizenry. But get real. It’s Mom and Dad who are on the front lines as far as developing a person’s appreciation for education. If a family does not value education then kids will pick up on that. The president saying “Study hard!” isn’t a bad thing, but he’s not going to be actually helping students with their vocabulary lists and quadratic equations.
The fall term began last week, which is just as well because my studies keep me busy and away from too much news coverage. Maybe academics makes me grouchy, but it seems that just about everything in the news annoys me these days: bailouts for the rich, entitlements to everyone else, my property taxes going up, the Mets suck. This is one reason why I haven’t posted here much lately: I hate to write when I’m in a crabby mood.
