Obama's Speech to America's Youth

While reading the transcript of President Obama’s speech to the students of America, I figured it would be an interesting topic to write a blog post on. In this speech, President Obama called for children of all ages to try their best to accomplish their goals, not be afraid to ask for help when they need it, and not let their failures or challenges define them but to teach them. Simply put, this seems like a pretty good message to send out; but it’s in the intricacies of speech that I find some problems. First of all, he talks about “turning around schools that aren’t working.” Well, frankly, the government needs to get a move on this. In my hometown of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the Milwaukee Public School system is horrible. The kids have no incentive to stay in school, so they don’t. The dropout rate is incredibly high, and I would like to know what President Obama is going to do about this. I enjoy listening to his messages of hope, but I want to hear what his actions are going to be. Also, while I obviously think this is a good message to be sending to America’s youth, I’m concerned that he doesn’t have enough push behind his points. Why did President Obama choose to bail out the American car companies instead of the colleges who are being forced to cut back programs because of their financial deficit? Yes, the banks and car companies did need to be bailed out, but if Obama is implying that it all starts with the children of our nation, shouldn’t we have started bailing them (and therefore the schools) out first? I do appreciate his effort to motive the students though, and President Obama is no stranger to messages of hope, but I do think he needs to act on these words. The ideas he is putting into our heads are great, but if they are not going to be carried out, what’s the point? If schools don’t have enough money to buy books, computers, and general school supplies that they need in order to teach, how are we supposed to motivate the students? How are we supposed to keep kids in school if there is nothing there besides people? Frankly, that puts a lot of pressure on the teachers. I have a lot of faith in teachers, but that may be asking a bit too much. It may be true though that we need to reach our youth with messages hope to get them to feel invested in and responsible for their/our future. After all, my generation will be taking over soon, so we better be prepared. All in all, if anyone were going to give this speech, I am glad it was Obama. He is a particularly good role model for working your way up through education. He worked very hard throughout his life to get where he is today, so why shouldn’t he try to motivate others? President Obama is easily able to relate his story to others, which helps his position. I am not so sure so many people would listen to what he says if he were not such a charismatic speaker, and so open about his childhood, but that is part of the reason he was elected to the presidency. Now let’s just see if we can get some action out of those pretty words.