So today I had finished up Latin 1 and begun my precious (this-semester-only) planning block when the French teacher came in to ask a question. I assumed it would be technology-related, but instead it was this: "What are your feelings on guaranteeing the president a captive audience?"
On Tuesday, President Obama will address the nation, specifically schoolchildren, in the early afternoon (1:00 EST). We've been asked to turn our TVs on so the students can listen to a speech by the president directly to them, essentially telling them to work hard and stay in school. I was struck immediately by the implicit hostility in my colleague's question and tone. I said that for me it didn't much matter, because I would have my planning block at that time, but that I would be watching to see what he said. The French teacher (a registered NRA member and a teacher who refuses to join the National Educators Association because they are "too liberal") is clearly nettled by being forced to allow the students the chance to listen to a president. He said to me, "It has the air of... well, can you say Hitler jugend?"
Yes, I can. But I think there is a big difference between stoking up young white men to feel that they are the superior race and talking to all children nationwide about the importance of education. When it comes down to it, my colleague is not entirely wrong - Obama definitely has a personality-cult vibe; he is a talented public speaker and there are, I'm sure, many people across the USA who can't help but attack anyone who criticizes him. But surely President Bush had the same kind of devoted supporter (if not the speaking ease), just on a different side of the ideological fence.
I hate party politics. If this were President Bush, I would still listen to hear what any president would say to the youth of America. My colleague would probably be talking up what a positive opportunity this is for kids to learn about politics and the importance of a good education. But it's Obama, so he's up in arms; and because I am teaching in a county that eats, drinks, breathes and bleeds Republican, his view is not uncommon. There are reports of students whose parents are going to keep them home from school that day.
Some negative reactions I can understand, but some leave me not knowing what to say. I sat openmouthed and struggling to find a response that would both convey that I don't share his degree of aversion to any particular party and also not open myself up to another earful of criticism. You can't change a mind so intentionally shut and deadbolted. I for one am looking forward to hearing this address. To refuse to send a son or daughter to school for an entire day JUST to avoid hearing words from a politician's mouth? Inexplicable. Especially when those words are guaranteed to be innocuous (he won't exactly be saying "vote for health care reform"). But the fact of the matter is that I am teaching in an area where this kind of overreaction is applauded by many. It scares me.
NPR tells me that the same thing is going on around the country... but should I really find that reassuring?
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