Kids should stay in school, right?

In 1980, my first grade class held a mock presidential election. Ronald Reagan vs. Jimmy Carter. I voted for Reagan. There was an R next to his name, which I loved because my last name begins with that letter. And his name was in red, then my favorite color, so that sealed the deal. Little did I know I’d been indoctrinated.

At least, that’s what I think happened. Nearly 30 years later, I’ve learned those sneaky Republicans pulled one over one me and my classmates, tempting us with bright colors and a smiling candidate. They did the same thing in 1991, when President George H.W. Bush delivered a nationally televised speech about the importance of saying no to drugs. Now, the shifty Democrats have the same thing in mind, as President Obama plans to address the nation’s students on Tuesday. He intends to encourage young people to work hard and stay in school.

This speech, many parents, politicians and commentators have noted, is a potential travesty. As Oklahoma Sen. Steve Russell said, “It gives the appearance of creating a cult of personality…something you’d expect to see in North Korea or in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq.” Florida GOP chairman Jim Greer says, "The idea that school children across our nation will be forced to watch the president justify his plans ... is not only infuriating, but goes against beliefs of the majority of Americans, while bypassing American parents through an invasive abuse of power."

Timeout.

Is this really what our country’s going to be? I understand arguing about health care. (Though I’m starting to think most Americans don’t realize there are two houses of Congress.) I get the immigration debate. I can see sniping over social security. But, the president encouraging kids to stay in school, that’s a problem? Really?

Harris Mirkin, a political science professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, told The Kansas City Star, “It shows the polarization and suspicion. It’s basically saying the president of the United States isn’t a legitimate person to speak to kids.” I’ll take him one further. It shows the fear. A lot of Americans are paralyzed by fear. Fareed Zakaria, editor of Newsweek International, writes of the U.S. in “The Post-American World”: “It needs to stop cowering in fear. It is fear that has created a climate of paranoia and panic in the United States and fear that has enabled our strategic missteps…To recover its place in the world, America first has to recover its confidence.”

This blog isn’t about politics. I couldn’t give a flip whether you think President Obama walks on water or if you long for the return of President Bush. What I do care about is how scared everyone seems to be. It strikes me as quite irrational that some parents fear the president will “indoctrinate” their children on Tuesday. About 1.2 million students drop out of school each year. Let me say it again. More than one million students drop out annually.

If the president can “indoctrinate” our children with the idea that they should stay in school, I hope we'd applaud, regardless of our politics. Instead, people worry he'll try to slip something into the speech about health care reform, the auto bailout and who knows what else. (As if the nation's schoolchildren would listen to and/or care about those things.) Lots of Americans are scared, by a speech about staying in school.

And that’s kind of scary.