Dumbing it down
This is the Old Cedar Mill in Cedarburg, Wisconsin, the quaint and charming town where my husband grew up. At Christmas time, the lone fire department plays classic carols through externally mounted speakers and the notes drift through the air and mix with the scent of sugar from the local candy store, creating a tearful nostalgia even for people who have never been there. It is a storybook. It is a Norman Rockwell painting.
Perhaps because of this, because it is so reminiscent of American lore, it is the place where John McCain and his running mate made their very first post-convention stop last September. On September 8, 2008 to be exact. For that occasion, Cedarburg High School shut down for the day. As in, closed it’s doors.
All the students and all the faculty and all the administrators were given time off to attend the rally. And the school band played in honor of the candidate. And this small town of roughly 11,000 people was billed more than $12,000 for additional police security. Imagine what $12,000 could do for a school…
Last week, the principal of Cedarburg High School sent an email to all of his staffers, informing them that it would be up to their discretion as to whether they wanted to show the twenty minute speech by the President of the United States of America, slated for today.
And that is where we are in America: A school cancels classes for one day and a town spends money for the appearance of a presidential candidate. And the same school later makes it optional as to whether impressionable children should be exposed to a speech by their country’s elected President.
This is no idealized painting. This is the schizophrenic lobbing off of an ear.
We live in dark days.
One more heartbreak.
I agree totally. When George I addressed the students in 1992 there were no comparisons to “Brown Shirts”. I think that Right-wing America is afraid of the Big Black Man. I would like to think we have come farther than this but somehow just don’t think so.
Dark times indeed.
My daughter’s school is not showing the speech today. It is so frustrating! They are allowing the teachers time to view it first, then letting the children watch it in the classrooms on the computers if they want to. They said that they will discuss it with the children though. I think it is a load of BS.
Dark days? I can’t agree with that; but they certainly are interesting days. (Look at me. I left a wordy comment!)
Excellent, excellent post. I twittered it. And where were all the GOP protestors when Reagan gave a televised speech to school children with a very overtly political message. I’m just not getting why someone would oppose the leader of our country — whether you voted for him or not — giving an inspirational speech to students telling them their future was largely in their hands. Study and stay in school.
The lesson plan? C’mon. It was optional and a suggested guide for teachers who wanted to use the speech as part of their lesson plan. The Department of Education has been doing that for decades since Junior Scholastic Magazine included projects to help us learn about the Space Program.
I get that your outraged, but I’m genuinely confused as to why.
It makes perfect sense for a school to shut down when a presidential candidate comes to visit. Such a visit is a huge security risk for the candidate, one that has to be properly handled. The school and town was very probably given a black and white choice: “Close the school and help out with security, or have McCain go somewhere else.” It’s a rare opportunity for small towns like that, one that I suspect most would jump at. Cederburg, and I hardly think you can blame them for that.
As for a school leaving it to teachers’ discretion as to whether or not the students have to watch Obama’s speech… are you upset they aren’t requiring them to watch it, or that some teacher’s just might?
Honestly I see nothing at all wrong with this policy. There are some classes where the speech can be made a valuable part of the curriculum (Poli Sci, American HIstory, Debate) and some where it doesn’t (Auto shop, Trigonometry, Biology). So either the school leaves it to the teachers (empowered teachers, what a concept!!!) or they force all students to watch it (“indoctrination”) or none of them (“indoctrination through ignorance”).
And what if the tables were turned, and Obama were the visiting candidate, and Bush the one giving the televised speech? Where would your outrage lie then?
Normally I’m perfectly happy jumping on your liberal rant wagons – they’re fun rides built on a frame of humor, ethics, and well-reasoned views on policy. But this time I don’t get it. ‘Guess I’ll just have to stand and let it roll on through.
P.S. Nice pictures, btw!
P.P.S…
I intentionally wrote the above before watching or reading Obama’s speech. I wanted to make my arguments independent of my personal views on what he had to say. And I’m glad I did, because I like his speech. I’s good, and carries a good message. But should students be required to watch it, or forbidden from watching it?
My heart tells me, “Yes! It’s a good message that all students need to hear!” But then I look at my arguments above and realize that while it may be good for them, it’s not essential. And the cost to us is the setting of a dangerous precident where our government and schools have more control over what does or doesn’t reachs students than they should. The choice for whether or not to expose students to this sort of propaganda (and make no mistake, everything a president says must be considered propaganda of some sort) is best left in the hands of individual students, their parents, and, yes, their teachers.
Anyhow, all students should have the opportunity to watch the speech. It makes me glad of all the controversy it’s stirring, which will surely generate a great Streisand Effect.
Watch out, Robert K. Whenever I say, “I don’t get it.” they let me have it. You have been warned.
Yo Robert. Long time, no see. Thanks for popping in.
Thanks for your perspective though, of course, I disagree. Candidates visit small towns all the time and the bureaucratic organizations keep on running, including schools. Not to mention, if you’re going to argue that the school should close for the kids/staff to attend a candidate’s rally, you should also argue that the school maintain regularly scheduled classes during the presidential appearance on television. That would be the more consistent stance, as both are historical lessons in government and democracy, among others.
I disagree that the school children should have been able to opt out of Obama’s speech. I don’t care whether the president is a Democrat or a Republican. Kids should be in school doing what the qualified and licensed grown-ups tell them to do. This is part of history, Obama is the President of the country, and not a candidate pandering for votes. Showing a presidential speech in class—be it Reagan or Bush or Clinton or Obama—is a teaching opportunity. There is PLENTY of room for dissenting opinions to be expressed in the time that follows a presentation.
The argument that America’s children are going to be brainwashed is ridiculous and disingenuous. If parents sincerely think a 20 minute presidential speech (or any speech for that matter) is going to brainwash their kid, then they haven’t done a good job raising that child. I remember watching Reagan in school and as you know from reading me, it didn’t indoctrinate me into anything. But man did I learn a lot!
This is an opportunity for some critical thinking to take place, to open broader discussions of government and civics and US History. If a student can opt out of this, why not opt out of, say, district testing which in my city, is over the top. The way I see it, school is school and life is life and the reality is that sometimes we all have to do things we don’t like. So if you are a parent and you hate Obama, you discuss this with your child, explain why you take issue with his policies, and then send him/her off to school to watch the presentation and then discuss their thoughts on it after they get home. As a teacher, you engage those kids in dialogue that can be dissenting or approving or both. Whatever.
Or you can put your kid in a so called “safe room” and bubble them up and give them a cell phone so they can spend the twenty minutes during the day texting their friends and raise a generation of kids who can’t think critically.
I can only hope that it is darkest just before the dawn. Obama’s election has shown just how racist this country still is.
Jenn, Obama won.
Eloquently written….thank you, as always. It’s all a bit absurd….though not surprising.