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nohunta wrote:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/20090903/pl_ynews/ynews_pl888_1

For the Lazy's:(Not summarizing but the article)

Spoiler!

On September 8, in what the Department of Education is touting as a "historic" speech, President Obama will be talking directly to students across the U.S., live on the White House website. But some parents and conservatives are blasting the president, calling the speech an excuse to brainwash American children.

Last month, in an interview with 11-year-old student reporter Damon Weaver, the president announced his big back-to-school plan:

"I'm going to be making a big speech to young people all across the country about the importance of education; about the importance of staying in school; how we want to improve our education system and why it’s so important for the country. So I hope everybody tunes in."

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan sent a letter to the nation's principals, inviting schools to watch the speech and included suggested classroom activities. But Jim Greer, the chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, came out swinging against the planned speech. An excerpt from his statement:

"The address scheduled for September 8, 2009, does not allow for healthy debate on the President's agenda, but rather obligates the youngest children in our public school system to agree with our President's initiatives or be ostracized by their teachers and classmates."

NBC spoke with Katie Gordon, a spokeswoman for the Florida Republican Party, who said the party's "beef" is with the accompanying lesson plans. The guide for pre-K through grade 6 suggests questions students think about during the speech, such as "What is the President trying to tell me? What is the President asking me to do?"

The plan for grades 7-12 includes a "guided discussion," with suggested topics: "What resonated with you from President Obama's speech? What is President Obama inspiring you to do?"

The Cato Institute, a public-policy research foundation, issued a press release entitled "Hey Obama, Leave Those Kids Alone," criticizing the "troubling buzzwords" in the lesson plans:

"It's one thing for a president to encourage all kids to work hard and stay in school – that's a reasonable use of the bully pulpit. It's another thing entirely, however, to have the U.S. Department of Education send detailed instructions to public schools nationwide on how to glorify the president and the presidency, and push them to drive social change."

Across the blogosphere, comments covered the spectrum, from critical to supportive, and from one student, a little anger:

"I sent my children to school to be educated NOT indoctrinated." — justamom

"The fact that people want to keep their kids from hearing the President of the United States encourage them to do well in school shows a true level of ignorance." — Firefey

"As an [sic] 9th grade student, I'd like to say that 1. I'm not sure why everyone is so scared that we'll all be brainwashed by the President ... 2. My school is one that is not allowing us to watch the speech, and quite frankly, I'm pissed." — Willbw

Both Presidents George Bush and Ronald Reagan both gave speeches aimed specifically at students that were nationally televised. In 1989, Bush delivered a televised anti-drug speech, and Reagan's 1986 commencement speech and Q&A session was "beamed over public television into 171 school districts," according to the L.A. Times.

It's worth noting that schools are, encouraged, not required, to air the speech. The Houston Chronicle reports that one Dallas school district is leaving the decision to individual teachers. Susan Dacus, spokeswoman for the Wylie school district, says parents who don't want their children to see it can opt out.

In an ironic twist, one Missouri school won't be airing the speech because of a lack of funding. Michelle Baumstark, spokeswoman for Columbia public schools, told the Columbia Daily Tribune, "We don’t have the funding or the equipment to support that type of broadcasting.”



— Lili Ladaga

Yahoo! News bloggers compile the best news content from our providers and scour the Web for the most interesting news stories so you don't have to.

What do you guys think?


I think people are truly dumbasses saying he's trying to "brain wash" americas youth by telling them to stay in school and get the best education that they can. Lets be honest those kids in china are grinding their asses off in school which is why they are going to pass us sooo quickly.

nohunta wrote:Lets be honest those kids in china are grinding their asses off in school which is why they are going to pass us sooo quickly.

Squirt wrote:Tjos os how I see it.
The people who have the chance to get a good ( Somewhat free)education ( americans) Don't strive for it.

People who actually WANT to get a college degree ( Rest of world) actually try.

aznronin wrote:Being an American kid and taking the education, yea America is kinda a joke lol, just by looking at the overall students in NYC.

aznronin wrote:Being an American kid and taking the education, yea America is kinda a joke lol, just by looking at the overall students in NYC.

UnbeatableDevil wrote:

aznronin wrote:Being an American kid and taking the education, yea America is kinda a joke lol, just by looking at the overall students in NYC.

aznronin wrote:Being an American kid and taking the education, yea America is kinda a joke lol, just by looking at the overall students in NYC.

Agreed. In Nepal (its north of india and south of china, for those who dont know ), most students learn algebra at 4th grade, whist in the US just started taking algebra courses (at :\. Asian teachers and parents are much stricter lol.

OnT: People who are calling it brain washing must be idiots

"It's one thing for a president to encourage all kids to work hard and stay in school – that's a reasonable use of the bully pulpit. It's another thing entirely, however, to have the U.S. Department of Education send detailed instructions to public schools nationwide on how to glorify the president and the presidency, and push them to drive social change."

"The fact that people want to keep their kids from hearing the President of the United States encourage them to do well in school shows a true level of ignorance."

UnbeatableDevil wrote:algebra at 4th grade

Reise wrote:

UnbeatableDevil wrote:algebra at 4th grade

Uh...

So they must be doing long division by the end of first? Fractions and percentages by 2nd? Geometry by 3rd?

I dunno about that, broski.

Reise wrote:

UnbeatableDevil wrote:algebra at 4th grade

Uh...

So they must be doing long division by the end of first? Fractions and percentages by 2nd? Geometry by 3rd?

I dunno about that, broski.

Reise wrote:

UnbeatableDevil wrote:algebra at 4th grade

Uh...

So they must be doing long division by the end of first? Fractions and percentages by 2nd? Geometry by 3rd?

I dunno about that, broski.

Barotix wrote: Asian & African Parents are intense

Barotix wrote:

Reise wrote:

UnbeatableDevil wrote:algebra at 4th grade

Uh...

So they must be doing long division by the end of first? Fractions and percentages by 2nd? Geometry by 3rd?

I dunno about that, broski.

Long division is way earlier. In Nigeria schooling starts around 2 iirc, Uni is 15/16. My old math books should still be lying around my house, but yes, my mom attempted to teach me Serious math when I was like 6 lulz. Asian & African Parents are intense.

Other countries get em in & out early to join the workforce. On average, when do Americans enter the workforce? When does school end for most? Who benefits from a prolonged education and less competition for jobs?

What is a Union for over 9000
What are child labor laws for over 9000
What is compulsory education for over 9000
What is indoctrination for over 9000

Jstar1 wrote:algebra in 4th grade is pretty exaggerated. But I know in Korea (and probably china and japan too) middle school students and high school freshman are already doing trigonometry. And by senior year 99% of them finish calculus or even calculus II. I'm telling you if american parents and american students could see what they are going to be up against 10 years from now I bet they would put down that cell phone, that xbox, that gameboy...

XemnasXD wrote:

Barotix wrote:

Reise wrote:
Uh...

So they must be doing long division by the end of first? Fractions and percentages by 2nd? Geometry by 3rd?

I dunno about that, broski.

Long division is way earlier. In Nigeria schooling starts around 2 iirc, Uni is 15/16. My old math books should still be lying around my house, but yes, my mom attempted to teach me Serious math when I was like 6 lulz. Asian & African Parents are intense.

Other countries get em in & out early to join the workforce. On average, when do Americans enter the workforce? When does school end for most? Who benefits from a prolonged education and less competition for jobs?

What is a Union for over 9000
What are child labor laws for over 9000
What is compulsory education for over 9000
What is indoctrination for over 9000

Long division before first grade? There is a limit to what kids at a certain age can understand. Just because school starts at two doesn't mean they should be capable of long division by 6. Even if you mom tried to teach you and even if she was successful i doubt that would work for most kids. I would expect them to be able to parrot what they are being taught at most but to actually understand the concept and apply it, i haven't see anything like that and i grew up in the education industry.

I tried looking up the Nigerian school cirriculum or information on how the students are taught, information was scant all i could get on it was what was on wiki and it disagrees with what you say for the most part. Actual schooling starts at around 6 and then they follow a similar 12 year format like we do over here. I've yet to see or hear of an education system that has the average kids with average upbringing completing lessons like long division by the age most kids enter kindergarten. It is a learning process and children take time to develop and practice and understand.

Don't get me wrong. My mother enrolled me in a Montessori school by age 3 and when i came out at age 5 i was capable of doing the work of a 3rd or 4th grader. Im not saying its impossible to teach a child long division im just saying that the child that masters and understands it completely by age 5 would have to be intelligent. The average student would not be able to keep up with that kind of curriculum and even at the montessori school my progress was seen as above average.

Goseki wrote:Asians, either we succeed, or we're dis-owned... yea... it's that tough.

UnbeatableDevil wrote:The thing is, usually all students do is memorize..and memorize..and memorize. Supposedly, in the US, the teachers explain why 2+2=4 by demonstrating 2 groups of 2 apples and putting them together to teach the students why the answer is the answer. In Nepal, they say 2+2=4, and thats it. You would know the answer, but won't know why thats the answer. later they get on to the gist.

Goseki wrote:No it's not. I had a korean exchange student my junior and senior year of high school, that guy had already done calc 1-3, and had even helped publish a math book >_>. US education = fail. Closest thing you can get to compete is by hoping your high school has some kind of international fusion program that tries to put you at the same pace as other high schools around the world.


Algebra in 4th grade doesn't seem very exaggerated, maybe only slightly. If a child can understand the concept of using a letter to represent and number, than he can do Algebra 1. I'm sure most kids are able to do it, they just don't have the necessary push and drive from home and school. I remember when I took algebra 1 for fun over the summer the year before entering high school, I saw a 9 year old asian kid in there. I was like wtf, he must think it's daycare. Than I saw him rant off pie to like 20 digits and watched him end up getting higher grade than half the other kids >_>.

Asians, either we succeed, or we're dis-owned... yea... it's that tough.

Goseki wrote:Xemnas I'm aware of that. There are average students everywhere. However, there are 2 groups of asians at college. Are you sure the ones you speak of are from the US or actually from an Asian country? The ones I've seen that are from another country, rarely party, are always studying, and ace almost everything they do. The other half, keep inviting me to frat parties, get preggers, and leave 2 semesters later >_>.

Asians are often SEEMED to be smarter for 2 reasons. The ones that try hard at school usually have a family forcing them to do good. The ones that break the stereotypes are usually ones that have parents that are too busy working to provide for the family to care. This has held true for pretty much every asian i've seen. Family has good income, kid is smart, family is struggling and always working, not so much.

Another reason is simply there are so many asians. I read somewhere that 25% of China's kid are in Honor programs. That 25% of their kid is > the total number of kids in the US. The normal kids end up in the working force for their country. The smarter 25% either get into schools in their country or end up coming to ours. Hence we see them as so smart.

They are already smart in their country where education is highly competitive starting in elementary. If you had adhd and couldn't focus when u were 5, you were pretty much stuck in the shittier schools. Unless you showed promise at a young age and could test into the better schools, you kinda get screwed. Hence, education starts earlier.

It's a combination of both. The ones that come here are already at the top of their classes. The other reason is that they have a higher priority of education. I doubt asian schools purposely dumb down their entire education system to make the stupid kids seem smarter. Remember the scandal when teachers were found out to be helping their students cheat to pull up school averages?

Squirt wrote:

nohunta wrote:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/20090903/pl_ynews/ynews_pl888_1

For the Lazy's:(Not summarizing but the article)

Spoiler!

On September 8, in what the Department of Education is touting as a "historic" speech, President Obama will be talking directly to students across the U.S., live on the White House website. But some parents and conservatives are blasting the president, calling the speech an excuse to brainwash American children.

Last month, in an interview with 11-year-old student reporter Damon Weaver, the president announced his big back-to-school plan:

"I'm going to be making a big speech to young people all across the country about the importance of education; about the importance of staying in school; how we want to improve our education system and why it’s so important for the country. So I hope everybody tunes in."

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan sent a letter to the nation's principals, inviting schools to watch the speech and included suggested classroom activities. But Jim Greer, the chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, came out swinging against the planned speech. An excerpt from his statement:

"The address scheduled for September 8, 2009, does not allow for healthy debate on the President's agenda, but rather obligates the youngest children in our public school system to agree with our President's initiatives or be ostracized by their teachers and classmates."

NBC spoke with Katie Gordon, a spokeswoman for the Florida Republican Party, who said the party's "beef" is with the accompanying lesson plans. The guide for pre-K through grade 6 suggests questions students think about during the speech, such as "What is the President trying to tell me? What is the President asking me to do?"

The plan for grades 7-12 includes a "guided discussion," with suggested topics: "What resonated with you from President Obama's speech? What is President Obama inspiring you to do?"

The Cato Institute, a public-policy research foundation, issued a press release entitled "Hey Obama, Leave Those Kids Alone," criticizing the "troubling buzzwords" in the lesson plans:

"It's one thing for a president to encourage all kids to work hard and stay in school – that's a reasonable use of the bully pulpit. It's another thing entirely, however, to have the U.S. Department of Education send detailed instructions to public schools nationwide on how to glorify the president and the presidency, and push them to drive social change."

Across the blogosphere, comments covered the spectrum, from critical to supportive, and from one student, a little anger:

"I sent my children to school to be educated NOT indoctrinated." — justamom

"The fact that people want to keep their kids from hearing the President of the United States encourage them to do well in school shows a true level of ignorance." — Firefey

"As an [sic] 9th grade student, I'd like to say that 1. I'm not sure why everyone is so scared that we'll all be brainwashed by the President ... 2. My school is one that is not allowing us to watch the speech, and quite frankly, I'm pissed." — Willbw

Both Presidents George Bush and Ronald Reagan both gave speeches aimed specifically at students that were nationally televised. In 1989, Bush delivered a televised anti-drug speech, and Reagan's 1986 commencement speech and Q&A session was "beamed over public television into 171 school districts," according to the L.A. Times.

It's worth noting that schools are, encouraged, not required, to air the speech. The Houston Chronicle reports that one Dallas school district is leaving the decision to individual teachers. Susan Dacus, spokeswoman for the Wylie school district, says parents who don't want their children to see it can opt out.

In an ironic twist, one Missouri school won't be airing the speech because of a lack of funding. Michelle Baumstark, spokeswoman for Columbia public schools, told the Columbia Daily Tribune, "We don’t have the funding or the equipment to support that type of broadcasting.”



— Lili Ladaga

Yahoo! News bloggers compile the best news content from our providers and scour the Web for the most interesting news stories so you don't have to.

What do you guys think?


I think people are truly dumbasses saying he's trying to "brain wash" americas youth by telling them to stay in school and get the best education that they can. Lets be honest those kids in china are grinding their asses off in school which is why they are going to pass us sooo quickly.

Tjos os how I see it.
The people who have the chance to get a good ( Somewhat free)education ( americans) Don't strive for it.

People who actually WANT to get a college degree ( Rest of world) actually try.

Reise wrote:There are also horror stories of what happens to students in Asia who don't pass their classes.

Being disowned by their families, kicked out of the house, etc.

Mathematics is also not the sole factor in what makes a person "smart" it just makes you good with numbers, whatever f*cking good that does you in the real world. That's nice you can solve an equation that covers an entire chalkboard, have fun flipping burgers smart guy.