Obama's Education Speech

Last Tuesday Obama gave an educational speech directly to America's schoolchildren. What should have been a simple address about education turned out to be a very controversial and headache-inducing ordeal. My school for one would not even allow it to be shown without a parental signature. Since I teach in a very conservative, rural school, I figured there would be some parents calling in to complain. However, when I saw the stories of parents keeping their kids home from school, I was shocked. These were not the undereducated, deep-south parents you are used to seeing such extreme closed-mindedness from. These seemed to be highly educated, rational adults who still did not want their child to hear anything the president had to say. I could understand if this was a speech about how to pass the health reform bill thorough congress or any other item in his agenda. But this was about the importance of education and how students should continue some sort of higher education or training. This was hardly anything controversial. If people did disagree with the president's speech, they should pull their kids out and have them jump right into the workforce.
Perhaps the speech wasn't even the point. One mother interviewed said she did not have anything negative about the speech, but still pulled her kid out of school and instead spent the day discussing how Obama will ruin the health care system. What kind of message does this send to her child and all others? "Education isn't important, neither is figuring things out for yourself. Instead, believe whatever I tell you to believe because you can't possibly make up your mind on your own." I believe we should instill in our kids the values and principles that we want to pass on. However, it is an entirely different thing to not allow your child to experience what elected officials are saying. Whether they agree with it or not, it is important to know. We are afraid of indoctrination by our president, so we would rather indoctrinate ourselves with a more narrow-minded point of view. I think it is much more valuable to let them see the speech, and them DISCUSS it with them. What are these parents afraid of? Are they afraid the president will actually make a few points they can't argue against, or even worse, will he make a point that they agree with?
I am not saying that I agree with the president's policies. I think Obama's version of health care reform will drive us into more debt. I think his views of abortion are abhorrent. I think the reckless spending will hurt us more than any recession. But this does not mean any syllable that comes out of his mouth are evil and not to be listened to, especially on a subject like the importance of education. Let your kids watch the speech. Let them ask questions. Let them disagree, and make them know WHY they disagree. Do they not like his policies because mom and dad don't like them, or have they done the research and figured it out for themselves? What good is believing in something if you are unable to give intelligent responses? Let your kids watch, and ask them "What do you think?"