The horror! The horror!
Whacko conservatives find this sort of talk "indoctrination," and demanded an "opt-out" for their children, so they wouldn't have to listen to an inspirational talk they would have approved of if it had been given by anyone other than Barack Hussein Obama. (Say no more. Say no more. Nudge. Nudge. Know what I mean, know what I mean.)
Meh. I say let them keep their children away. We understand their values and what such values produce:
Enjoy your ignorance, Teapublicans.
Excerpts from President Obama's speech:
"[Y]ou’ve got a lot on your plates. You guys are growing up faster and interacting with the wider world in a way that old folks like me didn’t have to. So today, I don’t want to be another adult who stands up to lecture you like you’re just kids. Because you’re not just kids. You’re this country’s future. Whether we fall behind or race ahead in the coming years is up to you. And I want to talk to you about meeting that responsibility.
It starts with being the best student you can be. Now, that doesn’t always mean you have to get a perfect score on every assignment. It doesn’t have to mean straight A’s all the time—although that’s a good goal to strive for. It means you have to keep at it. It means you have to work as hard as you know how. And it means that you take some risks once in a while. You wonder. You question. You explore.
[skip]
That’s what school’s for: discovering new passions and acquiring the skills to pursue those passions in the future. That’s why one hour you can be an artist; the next, an author; the next, a scientist. Or a historian. Or a carpenter. This is the time when you can try out new interests and test new ideas. And the more you do, the sooner you’ll figure out what makes you come alive.
[skip]
So that’s a big part of your responsibility: Testing things out. Taking risks. Working hard. Engaging with the world around you. Those are the things that will make school more fun. And down the road, those are the traits that will help you succeed – the traits that will lead you to invent a device that makes the iPad look like a stone tablet. Or figure out a way to use the sun and wind to power a city. Or write the next great American novel.
Now, to do almost any of those things, you have to not only graduate from high school, but continue your education after you leave. That might mean a four-year university, a community college, or a professional credential or training, but the fact of the matter is that more than 60 percent of jobs in the next decade will require more than a high school diploma. That’s the world you’re walking into.
So I want all of you to set a goal to continue your education after high school. And if that means college for you, just getting in isn’t enough. You’ve got to finish. Our country used to have the world’s highest proportion of young people with a college degree. Now we’re 16th. That’s not good enough. And so we need your generation to bring us back to the top.
If we do that, you guys will have a brighter future. And so will America."
Dear Mr. President--not if these people can help it:
