And Obama Was His Name-O?

In most elementary schools across the nation, the younger students are taught songs such ‘B-I-N-G-O,’ ‘Old MacDonald,’ and the crowd-pleasing A-B-Cs. One school’s students differ from others, however, by avoiding those run of the mill rhymes in favor of something more patriotic. While the youngsters are pleased with their praise of the president, their parents wonder if there is something more to their verses than innocent admiration.
An elementary school in a Philadelphia suburb is the latest target of Conservatives, who believe the children in the kindergarten through second grades are being indoctrinated to idolize President Barack Obama. In a performance given during Black History Month this previous February, controversy arose from the medley of songs praising the President. The song’s verses honor President Obama, saying, “Obama [says] that all must lend a hand to make this country strong again,” and “Hooray Mr. President.” Although this performance is several months old, the issue of Obama idolization has been refreshed by it’s surfacing on a YouTube video, creating outrage and speculation from Conservatives.
The idea that impressionable schoolchildren were being exposed to preferential politics rather than taught about the different parties was suggested earlier in September, and was subsequently followed by Obama’s message to the youth of America. By the time of this speech to the children, many had developed a distrust regarding the President. Concerns of students being used as political tools grew as the White House released plans encouraging kids to help the President. Although the plan was revised and the message not blatantly about politics, many were livid about the rumored motives, and the appearance of the ‘Kids Obama Song’ has done nothing to subdue the flames of discontent towards the President.
The school district has defended the song and school from scrutiny with Beth Auerswald, Spokesperson for New Jersey’s Department of Education, having said that they aim “to ensure all students can celebrate the achievements of African Americans during Black History Month without inappropriate partisan politics in the classroom.” In addition to Auerswald’s statement, Superintendent Christopher Manno has stated, “The teacher's intention was to engage the children in an activity to recognize famous and accomplished African Americans." The teacher who organized the song has resigned from the school since the performance, which seems to be a display of guilty behavior but is most likely due to the public outrage over the songs.
The song was presented to Charisse Carney-Nunes, author of the children’s book ‘I Am Barack Obama,’ as a demonstration of a project the kids put together. Carey-Nunes’ public relations firm has stated, “Charisse feels it is unfortunate that an event put together with sincere intentions to encourage literacy while celebrating the contributions of African Americans to our great nation has become political fodder.” To the school district and many of the audience members, the performance was an expression of pride and hope the children feel for their country, but to the rest of America’s minds it signifies a plot within Obama’s administration, one that needs to be uncovered for the safety of the future generation.

In most elementary schools across the nation, the younger students are taught songs such ‘B-I-N-G-O,’ ‘Old MacDonald,’ and the crowd-pleasing A-B-Cs. One school’s students differ from others, however, by avoiding those run[-]of[-]the[-]mill rhymes in favor of something more patriotic. While the youngsters are pleased with their praise of the president, their parents wonder if there is something more to their verses than innocent admiration.
An elementary school in a Philadelphia suburb is the latest target of Conservatives, who believe the children in the kindergarten through second grades are being indoctrinated to idolize President Barack Obama. In a performance given during Black History Month this previous February, controversy arose from the medley of songs praising the President. The song’s verses honor President Obama, saying, [The song includes verses such as:] “Obama [says] that all must lend a hand to make this country strong again,” and “Hooray Mr. President.” Although this performance is several months old, the issue of Obama idolization has been refreshed by it’s surfacing on a YouTube video, creating outrage and speculation from [among] Conservatives.
The idea that impressionable schoolchildren were being exposed to preferential politics rather than taught about the different parties was suggested earlier in September, and was subsequently followed by Obama’s message to the youth of America. By the time of this speech to the children [this time], many had developed a distrust regarding the President. Concerns of students being used as political tools grew as the White House released plans encouraging kids to help the President. Although the plan was revised and the message not blatantly about politics, many were livid about the rumored motives, and the appearance of the ‘Kids Obama Song’ has done nothing to subdue the flames of discontent towards [against] the President.
The school district has defended the song and [carefully guarded] school from scrutiny with Beth Auerswald [rephrase this last bit, it sounds awkward], Spokesperson for New Jersey’s Department of Education, having said [who says that] that they aim “to ensure all students can celebrate the achievements of African[-]Americans during Black History Month without inappropriate partisan politics in the classroom.” In addition to Auerswald’s statement, [school] Superintendent Christopher Manno has stated, “The teacher's intention was to engage the children in an activity to recognize famous and accomplished African[-]Americans." The teacher who organized the song has resigned from the school since the performance, which seems to be a display of guilty behavior but is most likely due to the public outrage over the songs.
The song was presented to Charisse Carney-Nunes, author of the children’s book ‘I Am Barack Obama,’ as a demonstration of a project the kids put together. Carey-Nunes’ public relations firm has stated, “Charisse feels it is unfortunate that an event put together with sincere intentions to encourage literacy while celebrating the contributions of African[-]Americans to our great nation has become political fodder.” To the school district and many of the audience members, the performance was an expression of pride and hope the children feel for their country, but to the rest of America’s minds it signifies a plot within Obama’s administration, one that needs to be uncovered for the safety of the future generation.

In every elementary school across the nation, young students are taught songs such as ‘B-I-N-G-O,’ ‘Old MacDonald,’ and the crowd-pleasing A-B-Cs. One school has stood out from the others, however, by avoiding those run-of-the-mill rhymes in favor of something more patriotic. While the youngsters are pleased with their praise of the president, their parents wonder if there is something more to their verses than innocent admiration.
An elementary school in a New Jersey suburb is the latest target of conservatives, who believe the children in the kindergarten through second grades are being indoctrinated to idolize President Barack Obama. In a performance given during Black History Month this previous February, controversy arose from the medley of songs praising the President. The songs honor President Obama and include verses such as “Obama [says] that all must lend a hand to make this country strong again,” Although this performance is several months old, the issue of Obama idolization has been refreshed by its surfacing on a YouTube video, creating outrage and speculation among conservatives.
The idea that impressionable school children were being exposed to preferential politics rather than taught about the different parties was suggested earlier in Sept., and was subsequently followed by Obama’s message to the youth of America. By this time, many had developed a distrust regarding the President. Concerns of students being used as political tools grew as the White House released plans encouraging kids to help the President. Although the plan was revised and the message not blatantly about politics, many were livid about the rumored motives, and the appearance of the ‘Kids’ Obama Song’ has done nothing to subdue the flames of discontent against the President.
The school district has defended the song and carefully guarded the school from scrutiny. Beth Auerswald, Spokesperson for New Jersey’s Department of Education, stated that the district aims “to ensure all students can celebrate the achievements of African Americans during Black History Month without inappropriate partisan politics in the classroom.” In addition to Auerswald’s statement, School Superintendent Christopher Manno stated, “The teacher's intention was to engage the children in an activity to recognize famous and accomplished African-Americans." The teacher who organized the song has resigned from the school since the performance due to the public outrage over the songs.
To the school district and many of the audience members, the performance was an expression of the pride and hope the children feel for their country, but to other it revealed the beginnings of stronger political influence on the future generation of America.
At Arcadia High School, there are various signs of political influence such as this, ranging from blind allegiance to well-developed opinions. The image propagated by Obama’s administration has influenced many opinions of the President at Arcadia High School, but not all are positive. Junior Ryan Hajiheshmat says, “I rooted for him in the beginning because of what he represented, [but now] I don’t really approve [of him] anymore.” Politicians’ appearances also prove to be a contributing factor in how they are perceived by high school students. During the 2008 campaign, scores of Arcadia High students sported pins and badges declaring their support for Obama but when asked why, many did not mention anything regarding his ideals and political aspirations. Senator McCain was rejected by many high school students because of his old appearance. Sophomore Jason Ouyang says with a wide-eyed stare that he was “creeped out by his voice.” Although physical appearance has little to do with politician’s careers, many opinions are formed based on just that, creating a biased opinion at Arcadia High School. Obama’s administration may try to spread a positive opinion of the President to the younger generations, but it will always be determined by the strength of the person’s mind.