President Obama addressed the kids at school today and no schools blew up, no kids were sent home sick (at least not over the speech) and they're all at home now playing Wii or watching Entertainment Tonight while their homework sits and the plaintive cries of their teachers go virtually unheeded.
We make a big deal about such events - or at least some people do - and the ones who make a big deal out of it draw attention to something that probably would have gone unnoticed had it not been for the furor created. In other words, it was a news event because it was made into one.
Otherwise, it was another speech by the president. This time, instead of it being addressed to adults who pay taxes, it was addressed to kids who are going to be a part of the country when the rest of us are in nursing homes wiping drool off our chins.
Mostly, adults are afraid of what other adults tell their kids, and the higher up the social totem pole they are and the further from their family, the more they're afraid of it. In other words, the less influence the adult has on the kid, the more the parent is frightened of them. That's an odd behavior for people who profess to care so much about their kids - sorry - children.
They're the same people who call athletes role models and worry because some musician abuses drugs, all the while going to their games or buying their CDs because the kid likes them. I suppose, from a parent's viewpoint they don't want someone they don't know having undue influence over what their child thinks or how they behave.
Unless they're in the same political party or happen to agree with the parents' opinions. If you disagree, you're a bad influence, even though the parent might have their own self-destructive behaviors, like smoking, drinking or texting while driving. Then, the mantra becomes, "do as I say, not as I do" and the kid (sorry, child) is supposed to realize that mom and dad are kind of dopey and they shouldn't grow up to be like them.
So, the president gave a speech today and told some kids to work hard and take their education seriously. Maybe the reason he did it is because he felt that the kids weren't getting that message from their parents?
Maybe.
1 comment:
From what you quoted, Obama was talking about frustration tolerance, the key ability to success and one of the hardest lessons we have to learn in life. This lesson never stops, but a lot of people quit at the beginning of puberty. The idea that success and continuing efforts are linked is in a way ... inconvenient. And, as convenience is one of the principals of modern society, success will never happen for the masses of asses.
Furthermore, I think that later success in life is rooted in the care and attention you were given during childhood by your parents. School only plays a seconday role, so I quite agree with you.
But raising children is a tough game. I'm a mother myself, so I can tell. I'm in the guilt trap practically all the time.
Hadn't my daughter chosen ME in the first place, I would never have made the deliberate choice to have children at all.
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