Parental Approved Skip Day

[aristotle]

In response to Obama's planned speech to schoolchildren on Tuesday, a boycott of sorts is happening here in the Lexington area. Thousands of Kentucky pupils will, at the behest of their parents, stay home from school rather than be exposed to Obama's targeted propaganda.

This local boycott of the speech is being called Parental Approved Skip Day. Several local television stations are doing features on this event. Hopefully, the Obama administration will get the message that any future speeches targeted at children will only result in a spike of absenteeism. Many parents refuse to give Obama unfettered and unfiltered access to their children.

The president's defenders are beside themselves with mock outrage. Here's a lesson plan for Obama: don a sock puppet tomorrow and explain Socialism.

 

[Poorboy]

In response to Obama's planned speech to schoolchildren on Tuesday, a boycott of sorts is happening here in the Lexington area. Thousands of Kentucky pupils will, at the behest of their parents, stay home from school rather than be exposed to Obama's targeted propaganda.

This local boycott of the speech is being called Parental Approved Skip Day. Several local television stations are doing features on this event. Hopefully, the Obama administration will get the message that any future speeches targeted at children will only result in a spike of absenteeism. Many parents refuse to give Obama unfettered and unfiltered access to their children.

The president's defenders are beside themselves with mock outrage. Here's a lesson plan for Obama: don a sock puppet tomorrow and explain Socialism.

I would Love to see this Catch on in Every State and City! But Unfortunatley that won't Happen because there's still way too many Koolaid Drinkers out there as well as Those Parents who couldn't Give a Darn about their Children as long as they are in School and out of their way for the day!

 

[OntarioVanMan]

educate me.....whats the difference between a broadcast and the president personally visiting schools and giving a speech?

The broadcasting just sounds hinky tho...

 

[letzrockexpress]

First off I think Obama directly addressing school children is at least distracting, but more so, totally unnecessary. Having said that, from what I've been able to find out about what he plans to say, it is about staying in school, and enforcing the idea that the better your education, the better your opportunities are likely to be in the future. Hardly something to keep your children home from school for or to protect them from. Paranoia will destroy ya...

 

[OntarioVanMan]

Haven't most presidents gone into schools?

I think you are right LRE...as long as OBama keeps on theme about staying in school....no drugs and such is fine....

It is only because of who it is and the resident fear that he is up to no good....

 

[greg334]

Here it is, judge for yourself.

Prepare Remarks of President Barack Obama

Arlington, Virginia
September 8, 2009

​

The President: Hello everyone – how’s everybody doing today? I’m here with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. And we’ve got students tuning in from all across America, kindergarten through twelfth grade. I’m glad you all could join us today.

I know that for many of you, today is the first day of school. And for those of you in kindergarten, or starting middle or high school, it’s your first day in a new school, so it’s understandable if you’re a little nervous. I imagine there are some seniors out there who are feeling pretty good right now, with just one more year to go. And no matter what grade you’re in, some of you are probably wishing it were still summer, and you could’ve stayed in bed just a little longer this morning.

I know that feeling. When I was young, my family lived in Indonesia for a few years, and my mother didn’t have the money to send me where all the American kids went to school. So she decided to teach me extra lessons herself, Monday through Friday – at 4:30 in the morning.

Now I wasn’t too happy about getting up that early. A lot of times, I’d fall asleep right there at the kitchen table. But whenever I’d complain, my mother would just give me one of those looks and say, "This is no picnic for me either, buster."

So I know some of you are still adjusting to being back at school. But I’m here today because I have something important to discuss with you. I’m here because I want to talk with you about your education and what’s expected of all of you in this new school year.

Now I’ve given a lot of speeches about education. And I’ve talked a lot about responsibility.

I’ve talked about your teachers’ responsibility for inspiring you, and pushing you to learn.

I’ve talked about your parents’ responsibility for making sure you stay on track, and get your homework done, and don’t spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with that Xbox.

I’ve talked a lot about your government’s responsibility for setting high standards, supporting teachers and principals, and turning around schools that aren’t working where students aren’t getting the opportunities they deserve.

But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world – and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed.

And that’s what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education. I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself.

Every single one of you has something you’re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That’s the opportunity an education can provide.

Maybe you could be a good writer – maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper – but you might not know it until you write a paper for your English class. Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor – maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or a new medicine or vaccine – but you might not know it until you do a project for your science class. Maybe you could be a mayor or a Senator or a Supreme Court Justice, but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team.

And no matter what you want to do with your life – I guarantee that you’ll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You’re going to need a good education for every single one of those careers. You can’t drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You’ve got to work for it and train for it and learn for it.

And this isn’t just important for your own life and your own future. What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country. What you’re learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future.

You’ll need the knowledge and problem-solving skills you learn in science and math to cure diseases like cancer and AIDS, and to develop new energy technologies and protect our environment. You’ll need the insights and critical thinking skills you gain in history and social studies to fight poverty and homelessness, crime and discrimination, and make our nation more fair and more free. You’ll need the creativity and ingenuity you develop in all your classes to build new companies that will create new jobs and boost our economy.

We need every single one of you to develop your talents, skills and intellect so you can help solve our most difficult problems. If you don’t do that – if you quit on school – you’re not just quitting on yourself, you’re quitting on your country.

Now I know it’s not always easy to do well in school. I know a lot of you have challenges in your lives right now that can make it hard to focus on your schoolwork.

I get it. I know what that’s like. My father left my family when I was two years old, and I was raised by a single mother who struggled at times to pay the bills and wasn’t always able to give us things the other kids had. There were times when I missed having a father in my life. There were times when I was lonely and felt like I didn’t fit in.
So I wasn’t always as focused as I should have been. I did some things I’m not proud of, and got in more trouble than I should have. And my life could have easily taken a turn for the worse.

But I was fortunate. I got a lot of second chances and had the opportunity to go to college, and law school, and follow my dreams. My wife, our First Lady Michelle Obama, has a similar story. Neither of her parents had gone to college, and they didn’t have much. But they worked hard, and she worked hard, so that she could go to the best schools in this country.

Some of you might not have those advantages. Maybe you don’t have adults in your life who give you the support that you need. Maybe someone in your family has lost their job, and there’s not enough money to go around. Maybe you live in a neighborhood where you don’t feel safe, or have friends who are pressuring you to do things you know aren’t right.

But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life – what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you’ve got going on at home – that’s no excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude. That’s no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. That’s no excuse for not trying.

Where you are right now doesn’t have to determine where you’ll end up. No one’s written your destiny for you. Here in America, you write your own destiny. You make your own future.
That’s what young people like you are doing every day, all across America.

Young people like Jazmin Perez, from Roma, Texas. Jazmin didn’t speak English when she first started school. Hardly anyone in her hometown went to college, and neither of her parents had gone either. But she worked hard, earned good grades, got a scholarship to Brown University, and is now in graduate school, studying public health, on her way to being Dr. Jazmin Perez.

I’m thinking about Andoni Schultz, from Los Altos, California, who’s fought brain cancer since he was three. He’s endured all sorts of treatments and surgeries, one of which affected his memory, so it took him much longer – hundreds of extra hours – to do his schoolwork. But he never fell behind, and he’s headed to college this fall.

And then there’s Shantell Steve, from my hometown of Chicago, Illinois. Even when bouncing from foster home to foster home in the toughest neighborhoods, she managed to get a job at a local health center; start a program to keep young people out of gangs; and she’s on track to graduate high school with honors and go on to college.

Jazmin, Andoni and Shantell aren’t any different from any of you. They faced challenges in their lives just like you do. But they refused to give up. They chose to take responsibility for their education and set goals for themselves. And I expect all of you to do the same.

That’s why today, I’m calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education – and to do everything you can to meet them. Your goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework, paying attention in class, or spending time each day reading a book. Maybe you’ll decide to get involved in an extracurricular activity, or volunteer in your community. Maybe you’ll decide to stand up for kids who are being teased or bullied because of who they are or how they look, because you believe, like I do, that all kids deserve a safe environment to study and learn. Maybe you’ll decide to take better care of yourself so you can be more ready to learn. And along those lines, I hope you’ll all wash your hands a lot, and stay home from school when you don’t feel well, so we can keep people from getting the flu this fall and winter.

Whatever you resolve to do, I want you to commit to it. I want you to really work at it.

I know that sometimes, you get the sense from TV that you can be rich and successful without any hard work -- that your ticket to success is through rapping or basketball or being a reality TV star, when chances are, you’re not going to be any of those things.

But the truth is, being successful is hard. You won’t love every subject you study. You won’t click with every teacher. Not every homework assignment will seem completely relevant to your life right this minute. And you won’t necessarily succeed at everything the first time you try.

That’s OK. Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who’ve had the most failures. JK Rowling’s first Harry Potter book was rejected twelve times before it was finally published. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team, and he lost hundreds of games and missed thousands of shots during his career. But he once said, "I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."

These people succeeded because they understand that you can’t let your failures define you – you have to let them teach you. You have to let them show you what to do differently next time. If you get in trouble, that doesn’t mean you’re a troublemaker, it means you need to try harder to behave. If you get a bad grade, that doesn’t mean you’re stupid, it just means you need to spend more time studying.

No one’s born being good at things, you become good at things through hard work. You’re not a varsity athlete the first time you play a new sport. You don’t hit every note the first time you sing a song. You’ve got to practice. It’s the same with your schoolwork. You might have to do a math problem a few times before you get it right, or read something a few times before you understand it, or do a few drafts of a paper before it’s good enough to hand in.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it. I do that every day. Asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of strength. It shows you have the courage to admit when you don’t know something, and to learn something new. So find an adult you trust – a parent, grandparent or teacher; a coach or counselor – and ask them to help you stay on track to meet your goals.

And even when you’re struggling, even when you’re discouraged, and you feel like other people have given up on you – don’t ever give up on yourself. Because when you give up on yourself, you give up on your country.

The story of America isn’t about people who quit when things got tough. It’s about people who kept going, who tried harder, who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best.

It’s the story of students who sat where you sit 250 years ago, and went on to wage a revolution and found this nation. Students who sat where you sit 75 years ago who overcame a Depression and won a world war; who fought for civil rights and put a man on the moon. Students who sat where you sit 20 years ago who founded Google, Twitter and Facebook and changed the way we communicate with each other.

So today, I want to ask you, what’s your contribution going to be? What problems are you going to solve? What discoveries will you make? What will a president who comes here in twenty or fifty or one hundred years say about what all of you did for this country?

Your families, your teachers, and I are doing everything we can to make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions. I’m working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books, equipment and computers you need to learn. But you’ve got to do your part too. So I expect you to get serious this year. 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 or your country or yourself down. Make us all proud. I know you can do it.

Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

That reads well....so whats the beef?

 

[greg334]

I think there is a two fold deal here.

One is it is Obama and a lot of people just don't like him and many don't speak up because he is ... black... and they are afriad of what the neighbors are going to say.

The other is a distrust of presidents in general. Truman made a radio speech which was also sent to the schools as a record, I read JFK did the same thing but since that time, Bush #1 was the last president to try this and because he was part of that Reagan thing, it was fought.

Overall I have mixed feelings, I would like to see more of this happening but because of the propaganda thing with pledging indentured servitude by Demi and Aston and that crowd of pukes, I would rather see Obama not do a thing and try to undo some of the mess he already created.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

after all he is the President of all the people NOT just the grown-ups....

and now these boycotters are going to do the exact thing that they are accusing Obama with.....using their kids as political tools to further their own agendas.....and the kids will miss prolly a full day of school because of it.....who's the loser now?

 

[greg334]

I would agree with you on using the kids but it is their right to do so, it is their kids and because of that, they can choose what to do if they don't beleive in something.

 

[layoutshooter]

The problem was the lesson plan that was to go along with it. I have not been able to find it or I would post it. It had something about writing an essay about how they could "help" the President meet his goals. IF that is correct then it is "VILE"!! The entire education system is very far left wing and teaching "revised" (lies) history. We just don't need ANOTHER left wing radical talking to our kids. I would have kept my kids home, approved or not. There is very good reason NOT to trust Obama and Co. ANYONE who accepts the freindship of someone who backed muderers, rapists and slave masters cannot be trusted. You are who you hang with.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

I would agree with you on using the kids but it is their right to do so, it is their kids and because of that, they can choose what to do if they don't beleive in something.

So it is right? That child is a citizen of the US of A....using your kids in this matter makes one just as bad as the cause they are making...

 

[OntarioVanMan]

The problem was the lesson plan that was to go along with it. I have not been able to find it or I would post it. It had something about writing an essay about how they could "help" the President meet his goals. IF that is correct then it is "VILE"!! The entire education system is very far left wing and teaching "revised" (lies) history. We just don't need ANOTHER left wing radical talking to our kids. I would have kept my kids home, approved or not. There is very good reason NOT to trust Obama and Co. ANYONE who accepts the freindship of someone who backed murderers, rapists and slave masters cannot be trusted. You are who you hang with.

IF there IS a lesson plan like you are saying then YES it is wrong...absolutely wrong....

But if it is just what Greg posted then there is no problem....The kids can listen to the president and then their parents and make up their own minds....

 

[layoutshooter]

So it is right? That child is a citizen of the US of A....using your kids in this matter makes one just as bad as the cause they are making...

Not quite so OVM. As a parent is was MY responsibility to insure that my children were educated the way that I saw fit, NOT how the government saw fit. It was a REAL battle the entire time. The schools OFTEN contridictied my and Mrs. Layoutshooters teachings on morality, right and wrong, history and civics. They did their best to cram their left wing garbage in my kids faces. PARENTS are in control of their kids until they are adults. Kids DO NOT have full Rights under the Constitution until they are adults. It IS a parents choice. I appauld those who stand up to this would-be dictator.

 

[greg334]

Lesson Plan for preK-6

Lesson Plan for 7-12

Go ahead and look at the lesson plans.

What I am wondering about is why are they talking to preschool children?

 

[moose]

Yes , there was a lot of "happening" in Minnesota about that .
the School , only a few blocks from my house , informed all the parents that they will not broadcast the speech .
they are recording it and posting on the web site , for parents to review , and will broadcast it on a feature date , so only parents that interested can send their kids early that day.

 

[layoutshooter]

That lesson plan seems OK on the surface. I still am 100% opposed to the Federal Government even SUGGESTING a lesson plan OR being involved in education in ANY way, shape or form. They have NO legal athority do tax for, fund or direct public education under our Constitution. Education SHOULD BE at the LOCAL level only where the PARENTS who have the responsibility for their children and their education can CONTROL their employees and the lesson plans. A "Government" lesson plan reeks too much of Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia. Way too much like "New Speak". There is NO large "benevolent" government on this planet that can be trusted. PERIOD!!

 

[OntarioVanMan]

Lesson Plan for preK-6

Lesson Plan for 7-12

Go ahead and look at the lesson plans.

What I am wondering about is why are they talking to preschool children?

So they don't feel left out of the whole process...that they won't think they are any less important then the kid in grade 4?

I still see this as unnecessary scare mongering by the right side parents....there is nothing offensive about this...only the parents own beliefs...

IF Obama keeps political issues off the board...then there is nothing wrong with exposing children to the way the US works at an early age.....maybe they might get out and vote more if the parents didn;'t keep them in the shadows about it...

 

[Poorboy]

The problem was the lesson plan that was to go along with it. I have not been able to find it or I would post it. It had something about writing an essay about how they could "help" the President meet his goals. IF that is correct then it is "VILE"!! The entire education system is very far left wing and teaching "revised" (lies) history. We just don't need ANOTHER left wing radical talking to our kids. I would have kept my kids home, approved or not. There is very good reason NOT to trust Obama and Co. ANYONE who accepts the freindship of someone who backed muderers, rapists and slave masters cannot be trusted. You are who you hang with.

I Remember reading something about his Speech too Layout, and it WASN'T what was Posted by Greg! The original one was Way Out There, and That's why I decided to go against his Giving any type of Speeches to any kids! Since the "First": speech made the news, I'm thinking that the word got back to Him and His Puppet Masters that the Parents were Upset with the Rhetoric and were going to keep their kids from being Brainwashed by him and the like, So They Changed it!! I Read the Article that Greg put up, and IF He sticks to That then that would be ok.. But He's a Snake and a Liar, and I Don't Trust Him and Believe that he would try and Sneak something in About his Socialistic Ideas!! Maybe I'm Wrong about this, Could Be, But I Don't Think So....

 

[Pilgrim]

These Lesson Plans have been toned down since the original versions came out and caused most of the uproar last week. The speech itself is pretty benign, and has probably been through several revisions as well. The end result for both seems harmless for the most part, but there's still just a touch of "Dear Leader" flavor in the whole thing - the children must set and meet their goals so THE ONE will be pleased with them. Probably the best course of action is to let the kids watch the speech if they want to and ignore the Lesson Plans altogether.