School kids taught to praise Obama

[tt11758]

To some, it seems pretty innocent.  However, as a student of history, it reminded me of the newsreels of the late 30's of Nazi Germany or the Red Brigades of Communist China (extolling Chairman Mao) and more recently the the school children of Iraq entertaining Saddam Hussien. Any form of school prayer has been banned in our schools.  I wonder how many start the day by saying the Pledge of Allegiance with "God" in it if at all?  Now these children are being taught to extoll the virtues of an American President?  Parents must stand up and confront their school boards and teachers who are entrusted with the well being and education of their children.  These type of things are not part of the approved curriculum!  Accountability - Accountability -Accountability.  If you don't understand what that is, look it UP!

Sadly, they are part of the approved curriculum.  One must remember that it is the government that approves the curriculum in the public schools.

[tombogan03884]

 3 Posts from VC

Posted by Eugene Volokh:
"School Children Singing the Praises of President Obama" (Apparently as a Public School Class Project):
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2009_09_20-2009_09_26.shtml#1253897939


   According to [1]Fox News,

     The commissioner of New Jersey's Department of Education ordered a
     review on Friday following the posting of a YouTube video depicting
     school children singing the praises of President Obama.

     Video of the students at the Burlington, N.J., school shows them
     singing songs seemingly overflowing with campaign slogans and
     praise for "Barack Hussein Obama," repeatedly chanting the
     president's name and celebrating his accomplishments, including his
     "great plans" to "make this country's economy No. 1 again."

     One song that the children were taught quotes directly from the
     spiritual "Jesus Loves the Little Children," though Jesus' name is
     replaced with Obama's: "He said red, yellow, black or white/All are
     equal in his sight. Barack Hussein Obama."

  

   There were apparently death threats sent to the principal; of course,
   such threats are crimes, and should be punished. But I would hope that
   those responsible for the school project are properly disciplined as
   well; public school classrooms shouldn't be used to sing the praises
   of any sitting (or recent) political figure, whether Bush or Obama or
   anyone else.

   That's not a constitutional matter -- there's no Establishment Clause
   for political speech, and of course schools do routinely glorify past
   political figures, whether Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, or what
   have you. They also rightly express a calm respect for current elected
   officials; when an official comes to visit, for instance, it's proper
   for teachers to give the normal praise offered such visitors, and for
   students to join in.

   But that some degree of ideological indoctrination and glorification
   is inevitable in government-run schools, and is in fact one of the
   purposes of such schools (which have long been justified as means of
   assimilating children into American democratic culture), doesn't mean
   that it's proper to lead children in songs praising the current
   President or particular aspects of his political agenda ("Hooray, Mr.
   President we honor your great plans / To make this country's economy
   number one again!"). I would have thought that this was pretty clear,
   and it probably is to most teachers in most schools -- but not,
   unfortunately, in this instance.

References

   1. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/09/24/elementary-school-students-reportedly-taught-songs-praising-president-obama/


Posted by Eugene Volokh:
"New Low: Beck and Right-Wing Media Minions Fearmongering About Kids to Attack Progressives":
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2009_09_20-2009_09_26.shtml#1253900627


   Is it just me, or is that [1]headline just a bit [2]rhetorically over
   the top? (No, the last link doesn't make a moral analogy, just an
   analogy in the rhetoric.) "New low"; "right-wing media minions" (why
   not "[3]nattering nabobs of negativism"?); "fearmongering" -- just a
   bit much for a credible debunking, it seems to me.

   This is especially so when part of the fearmongering that is
   supposedly debunked is actually not bunk at all; here's the response
   the site (Media Matters) gives as to the Obama praise song incident:

     Conservative media fearmonger about unauthorized YouTube video of
     school kids "praising" Obama

     The Drudge Report: "SHOCK VIDEO: School kids taught to praise Obama
     ..." On September 23, Internet gossip Matt Drudge linked to a
     YouTube video purportedly showing "chool kids taught to praise
     Obama." The video, showing young schoolchildren in New Jersey
     singing a song about Obama, provides no evidence that the children
     or their parents consented to having the video posted on YouTube.

     America's Newsroom: "Many parents ... just don't want this sort of
     political cheerleading, if you will, in the classroom." On Fox
     News' America's Newsroom, hosts Bill Hemmer and Megyn Kelly aired
     the video and asserted that "many parents" don't want kids "singing
     praises" to Obama. Before showing the video, Hemmer said: "It is
     one thing to have kids say the Pledge of Allegiance, but we're not
     sure what's going on with the videotape now online when students
     are singing praises to the president and why some parents are
     saying, not with my kid." Later, Kelly teased the video by saying,
     it's "getting attention on The Drudge Report website this morning.
     It shows young children singing the praises, quite literally, of
     the president." She continued:

     KELLY: Well, information posted with the clip says that it is from
     the Bernice Young School in Burlington Township, New Jersey, but
     the school won't exactly confirm that for us. In fact, they won't
     confirm anything for us. We have made multiple attempts to ask them
     about these students, about this tape and how this came about. We
     are hoping that they can get back to us shortly, so that we can
     clear this up.

     Already we're getting a lot of emails from our viewers. It went on
     from there -- you saw a clip of the children singing. Then came a
     bit of a chant by the children where they praised President Obama
     for all his great accomplishments, saying, quote, "You're number
     one. Hooray, Mr. President, we're really proud of you." And on and
     on it goes.

     You know, many would have no problem with this. Many parents would,
     and just don't want this sort of political cheerleading, if you
     will, in the classroom. We just don't know the details behind the
     tape, but it certainly caught our attention and we're trying to
     find out from, again, from this school, which we have multiple
     calls into. The B. Bernice Young Elementary School, Bernice Young
     Elementary School in Burlington, New Jersey. And as soon as we have
     it, you'll have it. [America's Newsroom, 9/24/09]

     The Fox Nation: "School Children Sing Songs of Obama's Glory." On
     September 25, the allegedly fair and balanced TheFoxNation.com
     posted the video with the headline "School Children Sing Songs of
     Obama's Glory." fearmongerkids2

     Beck: Song sounds like "a hymnal for a dictator." On the September
     24 edition of his radio show, Beck said: "I want to show you, and
     tonight I'm going to play the tape for you, of indoctrination that
     is going on. We've been going through all of this indoctrination
     for the last few days. Tomorrow, I do a full hour live with moms,
     and their children, and we're going to talk a little bit about
     things they're concerned with -- and indoctrination I know will
     come up. Play this, this is -- do we know where this is from?
     Elementary School in Burlington, New Jersey. The B. Bernice Young
     Elementary School. The woman who did this is, I believe, an
     activist, she's the principal, or the teacher. I don't have her
     name here. But listen to -- this is -- these are elementary school
     children, and they are singing a song for Barack Obama." After Beck
     played audio of the video and read the words out loud, he said it
     sounded like "a hymnal for a dictator. ... Does anybody see what's
     going on? Does anybody see what's going on?" Later, Beck said:
     "This is indoctrination. This should horrify the American people."
     [Premiere Radio Networks' The Glenn Beck Show, 9/25/09]

     Beck also promoted the video September 24 on his Twitter feed: RT
     @keepthemhonest: How young does Obama target (more indoctrination
     video) http://is.gd/3C1Qc @glennbeck #tcot

     Burlington Township School District superintendent: Song is from
     Black History Month activity, and the "recording and distribution
     of the classroom activity was unauthorized." The school board's
     superintendent wrote in a letter to parents that "[t]he video is of
     a class of students singing a song about President Obama. The
     activity took place during Black History Month in 2009, which is
     recognized each February to honor the contributions of African
     Americans to our country. Our curriculum studies, honors and
     recognizes those who serve our country. The recording and
     distribution of the class activity were unauthorized."

   Really, that's it for the site's explanation for why this story is
   supposedly "fearmongering": The event took place during Black History
   Month; it "honors and recognizes those who serve our country"; and the
   video was "unauthorized" (note that the "unauthorized" meme makes its
   way even into the section header). Move along, folks, nothing to see
   here, nothing to fear, just regular honoring and recognition of public
   servants, plus the video of the event was unauthorized, which is
   somehow very important.

References

   1. http://mediamatters.org/research/200909240026
   2. http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2008/200812/news10/20081209-05ee.html
   3. http://www.answers.com/topic/nattering-nabobs-of-negativism



Posted by Eugene Volokh:
"The Principal of a New Jersey Elementary School
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2009_09_20-2009_09_26.shtml#1253901868


   The principal of a New Jersey elementary school where young students
   were videotaped singing the praises of President Obama is making no
   apologies for the videotape and says she would allow the performance
   again if she could, according to [three] parents who spoke with her
   Thursday night....

   Parent Jim Angelillo said [Principal Denise] King told him the lesson
   was merely part of Black History month, and not an attempt to
   indoctrinate students, as critics have charged....

   King has long been a fan of Obama, hanging pictures of the president
   in her school's hallways and touting her trip to his inauguration in
   the school yearbook.

   Included in the full-page yearbook spread were Obama campaign slogans
   ("Yes we can! Yes we did!") and photos King took in Washington on Jan.
   20, when she attended the inauguration.

   There also were photos taken at the school depicting students doing
   Obama-themed activities about their "hopes for the future," featuring
   posters of Obama....

   Attempts to reach King on Friday were unsuccessful....

   I should stress that one should always be cautious about second-hand
   accounts of oral conversations; it may be that the parents
   misunderstood the principal, or that important context was omitted.
   That's why I hope that the principal, who is after all a public
   servant, does indeed publicly explain her position herself.

[Pathfinder]

Update - this is the same school that used the threat from "right-wing Christian extremists" in a security test in 2007.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/09/25/new-jersey-school-district-stranger-national-spotlight/

FTA: "The Burlington Township School District in New Jersey is no stranger to political controversy.

The district, which is being criticized for a video that shows elementary school students singing President Obama's praises, drew howls in March 2007 when it hosted an "emergency management exercise" at Burlington Township High School.

The purpose of the drill, according to a statement released by township officials, was to "evaluate the response and mitigation procedures" of police, fire and emergency medical services. But conservatives were incensed that the district invented a fictional right-wing fundamentalist group it called the "New Crusaders" for the exercise.

Syndicated columnist Michelle Malkin and other bloggers criticized emergency management officials at the time for allegedly singling out right-wing Christian fundamentalists.

Township officials later apologized for any "insensitivities" raised.