Learning Curve: Let kids hear Obama

By Maureen Downey

With four out of 10 Georgia students dropping out of high school, I wish everyone — the bus driver, the baseball coach, the lunchroom lady — would stress the importance of education to young people.

And, certainly, the president of the United States, whose own story is vivid testimony to the power of education to transform lives and history.

President Barack Obama will speak to students nationwide Tuesday, the first day of school in many parts of the country.

“During this special address, the president will speak directly to the nation’s children and youth about persisting and succeeding in school,” said the statement from the U.S. Department of Education. “The president will challenge students to work hard, set educational goals, and take responsibility for their learning.”

How could anyone fault that message, especially at a time when the primacy of United States depends on a well-educated work force? And given the history of presidents talking to students — can anyone forget that President George W. Bush was reading “The Pet Goat” with schoolchildren when Sept. 11 erupted — why is this speech under siege?

It’s not clear yet to me whether the controversy extends beyond TV and radio talk show hosts, who are urging parents to keep their kids home on Tuesday to protect them from “indoctrination.” Most of the gasping for air over the Obama speech has come from people paid to hyperventilate for the cameras.

Syndicated columnist Michelle Malkin — who lost me when she warned parents of the dark side of Pokemon cards, a favorite of my children, none of whom has gone bad because of Pikachu and Bulbasaur — said, ‘‘We know that the left has always used kids in public schools as guinea pigs and as junior lobbyists for their social liberal agenda.”

Former Atlanta radio personality and national Fox commentator Sean Hannity said, “It seems very close to indoctrination.”

And Jim Greer, Florida’s Republican Party chairman, who’s near apocalyptic in his protestations, said:

“The idea that schoolchildren across our nation will be forced to watch the president justify his plans for government-run health care, banks and automobile companies, increasing taxes on those who create jobs, and racking up more debt than any other president, is not only infuriating, but goes against beliefs of the majority of Americans, while bypassing American parents through an invasive abuse of power.”

What’s been interesting to me are the demands from parents to inspect the speech before Obama delivers it, insisting that it’s important for them to know exactly what their children will hear.

In both private and public school settings, my children have heard dozens of speakers over the years, from community members volunteering at career fairs to police officers advising students on public safety.

My children have sat through presentations from war heroes, TV weather women and artists. They’ve listened to farmers talk about sustaining gardens and recovering drug addicts talk about attaining sobriety.

I’ve helped bring speakers to schools and spoken to many classes myself about careers in newspapers.

Never has a parent requested a copy of any speech or even asked me later what was said. So, when parents now tell me that they want a copy of the president’s speech, I have to ask “Why?”

Parents likely know more details about Obama than any of the other speakers who will address their children. In fact, I bet most parents couldn’t even name the guest speakers their children heard last year at their schools.

I know I couldn’t. Nor am I sure that the kids could recall them, based on my conversations. (“Anything happen at school today?” “Yes, a lady came to our class and talked about plants.” “What did she talk about?” “I don’t know. Something.”)

The culture delivers many anti-education messages to children, especially through electronic media. During a single year, the average American youth spends 900 hours in school and 1,500 hours — four hours per day — watching television, DVDs and videos. According to Nielsen, children aged 2-11 comprise nearly 16 million, or 9.5 percent, of the active online universe

Much of the entertainment aimed at children contains stereotypes, violent responses to problems and cruel behaviors. In fact, the average American child will see 200,000 violent acts and 16,000 murders on TV by age 18.

That the president is making time to deliver a message to students about the power of education seems a wonderful antidote to the latest segment on whether Jon cheated on Kate or which “America’s Next Top Model” dissed another one’s thighs.