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| Uproar over speech a troubling sign |
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| Opinion | |||
| Written by Aaron Cedeño | |||
| Wednesday, 16 September 2009 07:00 | |||
I think I’m surprising myself a little bit with my column this week.  You see, I don’t consider myself a political person by any stretch of the imagination. That’s not to say that I don’t concern myself with what goes on in my government, at all levels. I do. I try to watch and read the news as often as I can, to keep abreast of the major issues and vote on election days. I consider myself a pretty typical American in this regard. But it saddens me to see what political discourse has become in this country. Perpetuated by talking heads like Bill O’Reilly and Keith Olbermann, too many people seem to be more interested in proving others wrong than in trying to find solutions to America’s problems. It has become harder and harder to find two people on opposite sides of the political divide who are willing to show each other simple respect. That’s what I mean when I say that I don’t consider myself political. I have no interest in becoming a part of that fray. All of which brings me to this week’s column, and why I’m surprising myself. It’s only my third week on the job here at the Herald, and if someone would have told me when I was hired that I would be writing a political column already, there’s no way I would have believed them. But, hey, this is important to me. Last Tuesday, President Barack Obama gave a speech directed at America’s students, in which he implored them to study hard and value their education. Almost unbelievably, the week leading into this speech was rife with an incredible amount of public controversy. This is part of the problem I have with the culture of dissent that has surrounded political discourse in modern America. We’re to the point that when the President wants to address our country’s youth about the importance of their schooling, our first reaction is to turn it into a nationwide controversy. If that isn’t a clear indicator that something needs to change, then I don’t know what is. When I first heard that the Louisburg school district was making the decision not to show the speech, I wasn’t quite sure what to think. After speaking with Superintendent Sharon Zoellner, however, I began to understand. This wasn’t the district making a statement, or taking a political stand. It was a decision based on logistics. Zoellner said the district didn’t have the resources necessary to allow all of their students to watch it live, and they hadn’t had the chance to review the content – a reasonable policy they hold to for every piece of media screened within district classrooms. Teachers could review the speech and show it in their individual classrooms at a later date if they so chose. Based on that rationale, I think Louisburg handled things the right way. What I don’t get is why schools across the country were bombarded with calls from concerned parents and citizens, demanding their schools either refrain from showing the speech or make it mandatory viewing, depending on their individual political views. What on Earth made this such a controversial topic? Letting individual teachers decide was a smart, sensible move on the part of the Louisburg school district, but the fact of the matter is that if kids want to watch, hear or read the speech, it’s not going to be hard for them to do so. We live in an age where YouTube is always just a click away on cell phones and computers. Take a look at the national news one night, and you’ll no doubt hear a number of people talking about what’s wrong with this country, and what we need to do to fix it. But one thing you’re unlikely to hear mentioned on that list of concerns is the resentment, suspicion, and even outright anger that has pervaded all levels of political discourse, and in my opinion that needs to be at the very top. After all, aren’t the American people the ones ultimately making the decisions? And if we’re too busy fighting over whether or not we want the President talking to our kids, how can we be counted on to find common ground on the big issues? Will we be able to find a way to fix the recession, or come to an agreement on health care? One can only hope.
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