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White House releases text of school speech
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(AP Photo/David Kohl)
One day before President Obama is set to address the schools of America, the White House has released the full text of his speech. The idea of the President addressing school children has sparked outrage from many on the right who are worried about Obama speaking directly to their kids.
But the text shows that their fears were rather unfounded, including Florida Republican Party head Jim Greer who claimed Obama was trying to "indoctrine" children into socialiam (Greer now says he will let his children watch the speech). The speech is a wonderful message to children from all backgrounds and parts of the U.S.
But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world – and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed.
The point of the speech is to inspire students and encourage them to stay in school, a topic the President spoke of at length:
And no matter what you want to do with your life – I guarantee that you’ll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You’re going to need a good education for every single one of those careers. You can’t drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You’ve got to work for it and train for it and learn for it.
Obama also spoke of popular icons who have had to overcome failure to be successful:
That’s OK. Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who’ve had the most failures. JK Rowling’s first Harry Potter book was rejected twelve times before it was finally published. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team, and he lost hundreds of games and missed thousands of shots during his career. But he once said, "I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."
In the end, it’s a good speech that contains a good message for children to hear. And I know when I was in school, I would have loved to have been addressed by the President, no matter what political party they were a member of.
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