Mr. Albero,
Hope all is well with you and your family. Just wanted to email you about the blog concerning the teacher who showed an Obama speach and required the students to write a paragraph, etc...and now the mom is mad because she and her daughter do not like Obama...
I dont see the problem. Since, there is a right to freedom of speech (expression), then maybe the mom could have been more creative, and told her daughter the following;
Always listen to your teacher and authority, even if you don't agree or like them, or understand them (unless they are telling you to do something immoral or illegal)
Complete your classwork as requested even if you dont agree...(certainly her first priority is to do well in school)
Being an American means that everyone has a right to express themselves even if they dont agree or like the government...(which is by far better than most other countries)
Write a paragraph explaining why you do not like Obama and how viewing the video, and having to complete the assignment makes you feel, turn it in to the teacher for reviewing, you may even get extra credit for it...(this helps her daughter learn the value of expressing herself in a positive manner, gives her more practice writing, and she will feel good that she was able to express herself)
I remember having to watch all kinds of things when I went to school, and having to learn things that I knew was not true (most likely to cover up government mishaps over the years, and to try to make me feel good about being an American...) Some things like:
Christopher Columbus discovered America
Pilgrims and Indians were really good friends
Africans were uncivilized, born to be slaves
People come from Apes
No one really knows why there was a Holocaust...if it really happened
Only girls take Home Economics
Only boys take shop class
Im sure I could go on and on, and on... I cant even count how many times we had to watch various president speeches, and do reports on them. The worse was when the President was scheduled to address the nation, and the assignment was to watch the whole thing...then make a report- due the very next day. I still dont understand why, because most of the topics had nothing to do with me (as a school age child). We have US History, American History, Government, Politics, Social Studies, etc...all classes geared towards government...so, it is not new to have politics intertwined with education.
The only thing new is this era and the issues we currently face (oh, not to mention having to do hundreds of current event reports...), as well as having an African American/White president. Im not going to try to plea his case, I definitley think that less government is better...but, let's look at it for what it is. What else can it be, if we have always had politics mixed with education? We've had crappy presidents as well, but none with this much hatred attached to his name.
Obama won the presidency. Someone voted him in there, and let's face it, at the end of the day, he is still the president, and still a polititcian (not a saint or miracle worker).
What is her mom going to do when this child reaches Middle and High School and starts taking some of the classes I previously mentioned? What, is she not going to do the work, take an "F", just because she does not agree or like the president?
What's wrong with freedom of expression? What's wrong with having a positive outlet for disagreements and opinions? It does not have to be all or nothing.
Well, if we could not disagree or express ourselves...we would not have this blog...and I for one love being able to comment, read other's comments, and receive information (even if I dont agree with or like some of the content). It's great to be an American...even if our government falls short of our expectations sometimes, and no matter who is President.
Sorry so long, but with the 126 comments on this topic, there was no room for anymore...Thanks for reading, not expecting a reply, but I know you probably read this, so thank you...
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
44 comments:
My goodness - a voice of reason. Y'all better hurry up and attack it - this thing could spread like a virus...
ok yea teach ur child everything teachers do in wicomico co is correct.HA!!! the mother is not at fault. WE HAVE A WEIRDO FOR A PRESIDENT. And now every child must pay as well. NOPE!!! My kids have been told their choice. But they also see how we americans r suffering, And then see Obama and side kick wife living it up. And ask why do we now get to suffer and they get really nice things. what do u say u know?? if u say anything ur being racial. If u say nothing u look dumb to ur kids. So hey Children r not stupid. They see whats going on. So if my child chooses not to write about all mighty then so be it. we didnt write like this for anyother president.
Finally someone with common sense!
Whoever wrote this thank you! But your about to get hammered by the redneck republicans that habitate this area! Let the massacre begin.
The Unsilent Majority
according to your line of reasoning, our children should also be writing reports on gay sex, pedophilia, drug usage and every other subject. whatever happened to reading, writing and arithmatic? that's the problem with the schools today, it's all about self worth, feel good exercises and indoctrination. Maybe an adult could do as you say, but a child? I think the child did the right thing pointing this out, this has nothing to do with an education! but I am sure you don't mind your tax dollars being wasted on such trivial pursuits! Thank God acorn and the SEIU wasn't there. This child might have been beatin up for expressing such opinions!
Thank you for posting this. I'm really tired of having to explain the closed minds found here to my high school sophmore. She is rarely in the majority in her thoughts of the world in general compared to her born and raised on the eastern shore class mates.
You think the Holocaust never happened? Wow......
The Holocaust never happened? I guess my Grandfather lied about the number tattooed on his arm.
You are a disgrace, you ignorant piece of trash.
You need a lesson in life. Her moral vales may be different than yours. I don't want the Obama brain washing shoved down our childrens throats. It is obvious that several teachers have tried to do this throughout the country.
The examples you gave were pi$$ poor. I still believe in God and the Christian religion , so do many other people. obama is a " muslim" , whether you like it or not , that makes him my enemy. You keep dreaming and maybe some day you will wake up , maybe not.
Amazing how these lefties get all sappy about freedom of expression when we're talking about the politically-correct thing, but if it is a conservative wanting to express his views, they're on the phone to the ACLU.
But then, that's the nature of the left-- very 'fluid' views-- kinda like that "Living Constitution" thing-- it just depends on whether or not it supports what they're trying to do.
I don't know where to start with this post.
First of all, the mother is not mad because she does not like Obama, and you saying that proves that you are either weak minded or using straw man arguments. I suspect the latter.
The mom is mad as most are that a political tool was used to indoctrinate our children showing them a slick manipulative Hollywood type video and classroom assignment that our current Presidents policies are good for the world and he should be worshipped as you worship him, Children, what can you do to be good like Obama? If you don't see the problem with this, I don't know wht to say. These people are seeking to program the minds of our youth instead of teaching critical thinking skills. This is unnacceptable. I don't want you or your people forcing your political agenda down our childrens throats. This is EXACTLY what the Naziis did to the children in Germany. You are just too blinded by worship of a man to see it.
BTW-
Where did you go to school???!!!!!
Who "taught" that Africans were uncivilized?
Who taught you that about the holocaust?
Evolution, like ID is a theory. It's not proven.
I don't even know where to start with this.
These children are in the FOURTH grade!
This is NOT a video for FOURTH graders, it is an attempt to instill in their minds the same Nazi hero Obama worship that is felt by the liberaal board of ed and the teachers.
The video in question is NOT a speech. It's Hollywood propoganda but to seductive music and hip marketing. And if this liberal SU moron teacher wanted to show a speech and do a report on it, why didn't she do it on a man that had to work for something, Martin Luther King, not a 1/2 black man who is where he is because of nothing more than affirmative action and white guilt and a corrupt and broken neoconservative republican party.
Hear this, the people that are doing this have an agenda, it is an anti christian agenda, it is an agenda filled with intolerance and hate, and the same tactics although more modern are just like those that were used in Nazi Germany. So you and all the other good little brown shirts Nazi libtards need to stay away from our children or you will suffer the consequences.
Well said. A lesson in civics we can all learn from
Very good post. I would like to add the classroom should be presenting both sides if they chose to address a subject. The problem we have in our educational system is that individuals are changing history by publishing their beliefs and opinions as history. This is called indoctrination. Why is it teachers and professors are indoctinating our children instead of teaching facts? The educational system is using indoctrination as a teaching tool / guidelines instead of facts. This does not allow for others opinions. How is a child supposed to exercise their opinion when you have an Educator telling them they are wrong and pushing their beliefs as the truth. If facts were the guidelines / teaching tool used then your post would be hard to disagree with. That is my point of view.
Whoever wrote this needs to go back to school. Full sentances are your friend.
Now, about the lady defending her kids, you are a great mom and I am so poud of you!!
Where can I sign up to help this concerned mom?
I know what you're talking about 10:19. The lady that wrote this letter understands grammar like you understand spelling! She begins with sentence fragments that start with verbs and she abuses parentheses. I guess if one is uneducated, then one gets into administration instead of teaching.
I think the writer is citing examples of what he/she was taught to believe but were untrue. Things they had to write about when they were in school...read the whole thing. DUMBASSES!
You are missing the point! This video was an indoctrination attempt. Luckily ONE child had the GUTS to speak out against this kind of nonsense (that had nothing to do with science class). As an adult I would never sit through this video. Why would I want my child subjected to it without being able to have a voice. I am sure other children felt the same way but were AFRAID to make a comment for fear of retribution.
It is so important to allow your children to learn to think for themselves and observe things from all angles before drawing their own conclusions. The problem with school today is that they are creating little robots rather than teaching children to be independent thinkers. Children learn about all the little intricate things and are wizard techies but they are not taught how to think for themselves which is critical for basic survival skills. They are judged by the reguired testing subjects which are designed by mostly women and geared toward the way females think so our males fall behind. Politics are usually a learned behavior and children have a tendency to replicate the views of how they were raised or taught. Schools have an obligation to teach the facts of all sides and hold their personal opinions to themselves. You can have your own opinion but still respect another's. That is what it is all about. I have three grown children, one is a die hard conservative, one is a die hard liberal, and one believes in total socialistic societies. It makes for a very interesting family gathering when the subject of politics come up. It is so important to allow freedom of speech in school AND your home while teaching respect for each other's opinion.
What is with this person writing all over all the blogs trying to defend school indoctrination? I can tell by their very poor writing skills, it the same dumb ass over and over. I can just see her now at her desk, ignoring her job, pounding away at the key board, cussing, and calling everyone names.
You are all nuts. I mean really, this is just ridiculous. If this issue and the arguments presented for each side are representative of our community, then I am truly ashamed to be part of this community. This is exactly why the other side of the bridge will always look down on us. You people just don't understand priorities and you have nothing better to do than stick your noses in what should be a private matter, and even worse... making your private issues public.
This issue is about one thing and one thing only... HATRED
My 5 year old child came home to me one day and her exact words were "Why does everybody hate the president?" Thanks people... I blame you for this. You are teaching our children lack of respect for authority through your own actions. You are teaching our children to HATE America through your actions and lack of descretion. How I see it... either you support your president or you do not. If you do not, then you do not suport the United States of America. I know the first argument will confuse the terms support and agree. THERE IS A DIFFERENCE, LEARN IT!!!
I have wasted too much time here over your childish bickering, and that is exactly what it is. I'm really glad you people have nothing better to do
11:07...thank you grasshopper.
oh... and you are a bunch of f'ing hipocrits too!! Had this been Bush instead of Obama, you would be rallying around the president and singing his praises. If John Wayne McCain's campaign add was shown, there woud be NO problem at all. If you deny that fact, you are only lieing to yourself as people with any level of intelligence should be able to see through your BS
When parents start raising children who can think for themselves instead of indoctrinating them with their own adgendas, I will believe that we have evolved as a culture. Try raising some independent thinkers instead of Eastern Shore Robots. Your kids will eventually let go of your apron strings with absolutely no skills to help guide them through life.
I think the one thing that made me so mad was the fact that the teacher felt it was ok to single out the student and try to embarrass the student in front of the class. NO teacher should do this to any child.
I am curious as to where you went to school because I was not taught any of the absurd things you include don your list. I suspect that you are engaging in hyberbole in order to make a point about education in America.
The fact is that it has declined over the last 40 years ...one simply needs to check our students' achivement scores against those of other nations.This,notwithstanding the fact that we have thrown tons of money at the educational process.
During that same timeframe education in this country has become more and more politicized with the Teacher's unions aligning almost universally with the Democrat party.
Nice job they've done for
our kids.And yet, we'll do more of the same and expect different outcomes.Shame on us for acceding to this nonsense for so long.
I called the board of ed and complained about this. I can't believe this is going on in public schools.
It is truely amazing to watch all these dumba$$es argue amonst themselves. We are all missing the big picture. The public schools are not teaching our kids. This particular lesson shows a child nothing about real life. It is fine to be PC and have opinions and be a free thinker, that will not pay your rent or get you a better paying job. All of our kids have become victims of the system. They are not teaching reading, writing and arithmatic. We are sending to graduation people who can't read or write and have parents who must not care. Attendance to PTA at an all time low. Involvement in the school non-existent. No booster clubs, no youth programs run by parents, nothing...I am lucky enough to be able to send my kids to wicomico day school. They learn about everything. They are 2-3 grade levels above their public school counter parts beacuse at that school they are teaching school. They celebrate all the traditional holidays yet people of all religions go there but they are tolerant and enjoy the celebration and don't turn it into some political show. Barrack Obama is bad for this country. He is constantly bashing america. He detests capitolism and profits. He is just plain dangerous and hopefully he will not be able to do much damage in the few years he has left. All of the politically uninformed think he is great. If you all would just wake up and stop getting your news from ET tonight, you might realize that the guy you think is so great just raised your electric bill by $2000 dollars per year yesterday. The health care bill will bankrupt this country and we will all have third world health care soon but go ahead and keep arguing over some teachers dumba$$ lesson that teaches our kids nothing
I want a large photo of our president in every classroom and hallway by the front door. Children should salute the photo as a sign of respect. This will help to rid us of some of the redneck prejudice. We salute the flag to show respect so we should do likewise for our president.
5:46
The ONLY salute he would get from me would be the one finger salute.
Where is RightCoast now? Why haven't we heard from her after her proposed meeting on Monday. Probably because she got her @ss handed to her...
Or all talk and no action. Figures!
4:38. What are you smoking? Most kids we get from your school are 2-3 years BELOW public school. Stop slamming public schools. Thats your choice to send your kids there, but to categorize all schools as bad is totally wrong!!!
No 7:18 I have just held off on this site but if you must know fool, the school was indignant. However, the Board of Education is investigating this issue, the County Council has asked for for a report of that investigation. The Daily Times has interviewed me about it, and WBOC has called me about it. Believe me when I say it won't stop there if there are not corrective actions made. I have spoken to legal council and I am investigating putting my children in private school. All of these people think this is a big deal. and it is. These are our children.
Dear Writer,
There is a difference between freedom of speech and indoctrination. As you become more educated and learn those subtleties you will also be exposed to evolution theories that may enlighten you somewhat.
American history must be taught in the schools so that past mistakes are not repeated. That, however, does not give teachers license to further THEIR political agendas and create little 'Obamatrons' that mindlessly recite Obama's supposed achievemnts.
Acorns' soldiers have no place in our public schools.
Schools are places of learning, not indoctrination.
There is a difference.
Dear Writer,
There is a difference between freedom of speech and indoctrination. As you become more educated and learn those subtleties you will also be exposed to evolution theories that may enlighten you somewhat.
American history must be taught in the schools so that past mistakes are not repeated. That, however, does not give teachers license to further THEIR political agendas and create little 'Obamatrons' that mindlessly recite Obama's supposed achievemnts.
Acorns' soldiers have no place in our public schools.
Schools are places of learning, not indoctrination.
There is a difference.
11:32
Did you speak out when your leftist friends attacked President Bush?
Is that how you teach your children to respect the President of the United States?
11:32 "Everyone hates our puttet president" because he has bad policies that the government is effectively forcing down our childrens throats.
congratulations.
puppett but whatever.
9:41 Nazi Warning,
You nailed it! Great job. I loved your comment.
Many others,
Good comments on this subject. Our education system has been run by the Rockefeller Family for 50+ years. It is complete brainwashing and mind control. We were programmed how to think about government. Never educated properly about the U.S. Constitution. Never. Don't understand the Federal Reserve and the creation of money. We are all ignorant of the basic functioning of the political process and the influence of money and lobbyists. The corporations have taken over our government and they are conditioning our children to be slaves.
N. Woods
Puppet.
You're welcome.
So the writer suggests that we all just sit back, shut up, and let the educators fill our childen's minds with mush. That is how we got in the mess we are in. Congratulations to the parent that had the courage to speak up. More need to do the same.
Everyone must remember that the teachers union spends a large portion of teachers' dues on supporting liberals, they paid to get Obama in office. So of course they'e going to indoctrinate our children with their propaganda.
I am a recently retired public school teacher, and I can proudly say I refused to belong to the teachers union. After teaching in public schools and experiencing what goes on in the classroom, I recommend that parents who don't want their children to be indoctrinated with this garbage, pull them out of public schools. They'll get a better education at home, in most cases. It's a shame, but it's a fact.
First, not the video shone in the class. If you knew about our tech policy, you would know we cannot log onto the YOUTUBE website. It is blocked. Second, the point of the lesson was what you could do to become a better citizen. The YES WE CAN is a slogan to encourage American that they can make a DIFFERENCE. You know, your civic duties as an American.
People you need to get over the fact that Obama is the President. He did not come into to office with an easy job. The previous administation left him a recession and two wars. How soon we seem to forget what was going on less than a year ago. You don't have to like the President,but you should respect the office.
And by the way, when was the last time you volunteered in an elementary school? You would be surprised at what the teachers have to put up with because the children do not come to learn. So please, volunteer. We would love to have you.
My schedule is so busy, that I dont always get to check the blog. I didn't even think that my letter to Mr. Albero would be posted.
Just want to clear a few things up; I dont believe in everything that educators teach in the classroom, which is why I am my children's first teacher. I believe education begins at home, and dont rely on the school system to teach my children about religion, politics, morals, ethics, behavior, or even common sense. However, I expect them to respect authority (teachers, the law--which includes our government). They dont have to agree with or even like their teachers, or president. However, just because they disagree does not excuse them from doing well in school, or respecting others opinions.
Otherwise,why should anyone respect their opinions, if they can not extend the same type of respect to others? There is a way to express feelings and opinions without lowering their standards, or subjecting others to hatred and disrespect.
I am definitely not an Obama worshipper. (lol) I repeat, that I believe the less government involvement with anything the better. The more the government gets involved with any issues, the less freedom there is. A true capitalistic economy thrives in the ability to operate without government manipulation.
I definitely know that the Holocaust is real, and have had the pleasure of meeting many people whose families have survived.
But that was not part of the point. I remember in 9th grade being shown a movie about the Holocaust and, the teacher mentioning (obviously their personal opinion) that many believe the Holocaust did not really happen, and even showed another film where they were trying to discredit the Holocaust. Even now, schools do not teach the full story about the Holocaust.
With all the history, political, and social classes that were being taught in the 70's and 80's, I dont recall anything on African American History. It was not until recently that African American History was introduced into the school system. I remember reading about who discovered electricty, the phone system, and the polio vaccine. Dont recall ever hearing about any African American contributions to America.
A parent can move their child around from school to school, anywhere in the USA private or public and there will be faults. What will you do keep changing your kids school around just because of some type of difference of opinions.
Can anyone tell me what motivated people in the first place to look for new land before founding America? What were their reasons for settling here anyway? We dont really know, because none of us can talk to the founders, but, we know what we have been taught by our education system. Whether it is a lie or truth...do we really know?
This blog is great. I never thought I would be so involved with a blog. However, every topic is great. The responses, even the ones I disagree with, are great. It is exactly what I want my children to learn--to disagree amicably, to communicate, to be involved with their community, to learn as much as possible, and to make a difference.
Maybe this experience with the young girl will spark some interest in becoming a politician, maybe even president. Who knows, hopefully she does not learn that her opinions are more important than everyone elses...while they are just as important, they are not more. Especially since feelings and opinions do not make someone "right". Not even me.lol.
Thank you again, Mr. Albero. What a great experience this blog has been.
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