Cover your ears, child. Obama is invading your classroom

Summer break has almost come to an end and what better way to get your academic juices a'flow than to hear a little spiel by cool-guy Barack Obama?

If you haven't heard, US president Obama will be giving a video address to the children of the nation on Tuesday, September 8, 2009. But some of the talking heads are calling this creepy with liberal (haha) use of the term "indoctrination." And not surprisingly, Hilter's name comes up a lot. I agree that it is a strange, but in the end, it won't matter. Most kids aren't interested, but some parents are freaked. Personally, I think it will be a flop.

First of all, viewing is completely voluntary. Teachers may opt-in or out as they see fit. Likewise, parents can write a note excusing their child from what is sure to be another teleprompted Obama speech. Local reports say that this is relatively low on teachers' priority lists -- Tuesday is the first day of the school year.

I will agree with those who say this has no place in an elementary school cirriculum. That is too young and impressionable of an age!

What protesting parents may or may not know is this: national politics are already in many classrooms. When I was in middle school and high school (through 2002), we were forced to watch "Channel 1." It was 12 minutes of national and international news. It was mostly a distraction from schoolwork, which nearly every student likes. It was not, however, particularly impactful. I suspect those students who watch Obama's speech will have strikingly similar sentiments.