I can’t believe this is the kind of crap that people come up with. Just a few years ago, questioning anything the president did was tantamount to treason. It’s amazing how the times have changed in just a relatively short while.
Let me say it plainly. Keeping your kids home from school so that they don’t hear the President of the United States of America is the dumbest things I’ve heard all year. But, it’s only September, so there’s plenty of time for you ridiculous people to set a new mark.
First, he’s the freaking president of this freaking country. He has Secret Service, Air Force One, The White House, and all the rest of it. If nothing else, one has to respect the office.
Second, what is he going to say to your precious child? “Boys, you should all be gay. Girls, you should all get pregnant by the first straight boy you can find and then have an abortion.” Absurd. He’s going to tell your kid to work hard and take advantage of all the opportunities they have. He might even encourage them to take a little responsibility for their education. If you’re that worried about what he’s going to say, watch the damned thing (It can’t be much more than a half an hour.) and have an actual, thoughtful conversation with your kid about what they thought and why you agree or disagree.
Finally, consider the message that you’re sending to your kid. Here’s the message: “If you so much as think that you are going to disagree with what someone has to say (even if that person is the President of the United States of America), you don’t have to give that person the time of day.” Let me know how that message tastes when it’s reheated and served back to you when your kid is a teenager.
Conclusion: Stop being a lazy parent. Your kid is going to be exposed to things you do not agree with. Perhaps it will be by the President in a planned, announced, well-publicized event. But maybe – just maybe – your kid is going to hear someone say “fuck” in the hallway of her school. Or maybe your kid is going to have an atheist classmate berate him as an uncritical, backward, thoughtless waste of carbon for believing in God. The truth of it is that every day (if you’re really engage and think about it) your kid is going to be exposed to things that you do not agree with and that you would rather she wasn’t exposed to. If you’re abdicating your parental responsibilities to communicate and to instill in your child the values you believe to be important in such a way that come what may your child will know what he believes and why, don’t blame one person who happens to be the President of your country for trying to talk to your child. You sure as hell aren’t.
Brilliantly stated.