Obama’s Controversial Speech

I just got done reading Obama’s address to the kids of the nation. The only word I have to describe it is this:

Wow.

Today, they were supposed to show it in all the schools, but due to some technical difficulties, I had go onto Yahoo and read it. It’s not very bad. In fact it’s the best formal speech for students I’ve ever read. It would make the hot content list if he posted it on Triond.

But that’s not all. It was a good speech from the standpoint of a writer, but it was also a finely written speech for the kids in all the public schools. It outlined points that kids are failing to do, and in turn, giving America a bad name. All the students I know from my old school, PHS, were just jackasses. I would have used a better word, but I just can’t think of one.

The students were either in all advanced classes, or in regular classes. The people in regular classes failed miserably. But the students in Pre-Ap, and AP were all in the top ten percent of the class. There was a choice of what classes they wanted to be advanced, and what classes they didn’t, but this was usually not the case.

What Obama says to this is that all the students of the US need to work harder. He says “…I expect you to get serious this year.” I agree with him. People are dropping out of school as if school was going to kill them. Some students do this to support their family, but most of them do this in order to go become a gangster, sell pot, or some other illegal drugs.

Obama explains how these three kids with a lot of difficulties managed to make their name known in the world. They all went from having either nothing, or a lot of difficulties to the most successful kids known by Obama.

While looking at these people, and looking at all the freshmen from my old school that are probably going to drop out for no reason, I feel happy that Obama is the president. His speech was implying the truth about the students of the US. Most schools have the equipment, teachers, and funding, but they just don’t have the attention of most students.

Why are all you parents getting so freakin’ mad? It might be true that your kid is not paying attention in class. It’s not always the teacher’s or school’s fault. All you average american parents are just too defensive. Your little 7th grader might be making that 63 in history because they aren’t doing their best. It’s not always the teachers fault, it’s just that they aren’t trying to complete their work.

How do I know all this? From experience as a student, and as the son of an Indian substitute teacher. In India, people have to pay to go to school. They have to pay for their textbooks, and for after school tutoring. You don’t have to do this here, it’s all free, and widespread. But in India, it’s very hard to find. This is why the people that can go to school do their best. They don’t let their parents’ investment go to waste. In fact, they make sure that they use it to make a better life for the entire family. But here, people don’t care about a better life.

I’m not only talking about the people that are going to drop out of high school, but also of those people that decide to not go to college. The difference between the income of a high school drop out and a person that doesn’t go to college is very small. It will get hard for them to make a living, too.

I’m not against democracy, if that’s the reason some parents don’t want their kids to watch the speech. I’m for democracy, but not the democracy that is ignoring the obvious hideous truths of our country. Poverty, homelessness, education, environmental problems, and so many other things are just a few. And all of these can be gotten rid of with the use of one thing: working hard in school.

Obama is not asking us to do anything crazy like join the army in Iraq, or support any government policy. He’s just asking the students of America to work hard, make a living, and to understand the basic knowledge of school to understand “…the knowledge and problem-solving skills you learn in science and math to cure diseases like cancer and AIDS, and to develop new energy technologies and protect our environment.”

That’s all he says in the speech. To work hard toward a better America. And we all know that there’s nothing bad in that.