Posted by
Laura L. Hollis, JD on Thursday, September 03, 2009 7:52:43 PM
This is a far better use of the President's capital with children. One of the best things about Obama's presidency is the message he can send to children across the country - particularly children from disadvantaged backgrounds who are growing up surrounded by messages of "inevitable" failure.
As Obama himself has acknowledged many times over, his own story is a compelling one: born to a teenaged mother, abandoned by his father, raised by his grandparents, biracial at a time when this was - to say the least - less accepted. And yet he was able to hunker down, stay in school, study, succeed, attend college and then law school. He married well (which is to say, for love, and to a woman successful in her own right) and fathered two daughters - in wedlock - that he adores. Yes, he had stumbles along the way - who doesn't? - and he overcame those, as well, screwed his head on straight, and moved forward.
And of course, his professional life in public office has elevated him to the highest political position in the country: President of the United States. That he has been able to do this says much about him, and much about the country that elected him.
This is enough. Indeed, this is more than enough for small grad school-age children to hear. For the President of the United States to address grade schoolers with the message that they, too, can accomplish anything they set their mind to in this country if they stay in school, work hard, make good choices, and don't give up, is a God's plenty. There is no need for the propaganda element that was so offensive: what can you do for the President? It's not about doing things for the President. It's not about doing things because the President has asked you to.
Obama's story is inspirational, and it should be used - as it appears it will be now - to inspire children to think about what they can be for themselves.