If you drop out of school, you not only let yourself down...

[YvonneCa]

...you let your country down.



(paraphrasing) President Obama

[davidinalameda]

1. i thought that was a pretty cool line

[Lost in CT]

And you are a loser and a moron...

Well it had to be said.

[YvonneCa]

7. Me? Or the President...

...who said those words?

[Lost in CT]

13. No if you drop out you are a loser and a moron... sorry if that was unclear.

The OP and the President are fine citizens and in at least one case give hope for a better tomorrow.

[Lost in CT]

2. DUPE

[leftstreet]

3. Sorry, but that line sucked

He could have made his point without using a rightwing blame-the-victim talking point.

The icky nationalism aside, where is the blame on the educational system?

[smalll]

4. No, it was a great line. And you want to call it a "rightwing" talking point?

How about your wanting to put the "blame" on "the educational system" which generally will boil down to blaming the public schools and their teachers. That's the rightwing talking point.

I like the line, and I also liked when the President also emphasized that the parents play the key role. Why are parents so key, though? Because they are the adults who have the most authority (and the best hope) of making the STUDENTS INTERESTED IN GETTING AN EDUCATION.

It all comes down to the students.

[RamboLiberal]

5. I don't care how shitty your school is - there's no damn excuse

for dropping out or for not doing your best to learning to read. There's been a helluva lot of people who didn't have access to schools or attended shitty schools but still managed to get an education and go on to good or great lives.

That being said I want to see every school in this country brought up to high standards and for every kid to have a chance at a great education.

That was a great line and I hope tomorrow there will be a ton of kids, parents, teachers and principals who use it.

[YvonneCa]

6. I agree. The fact that we have so many...

...students dropping out of school is multi-faceted. Schools HAVE to do better. Parents have to ALL be responsible. And students have to know that...even when they feel like giving up...they CAN'T give up. It will hurt their future too much.

I'm sure some students won't want to hear Obama say this, because they may be in a tough situation. But he is right. We aren't a country of quitters...never have been. We're a country of DO'ERS...and we all have to start acting like it.

To the students who want to drop out, I'd tell you that you learn lessons even in seemingly impossible situations...maybe the lesson is to never get stuck in a situation like that again...and you change it by getting first a high school diploma, and then a college diploma. I say good luck to those who take Obama's advice seriously. He is saying this because he KNOWS. He is a smart man. ;)

[YvonneCa]

8. There is plenty of 'blame' to go around. I prefer...

...the word 'responsibility.' The responsibility for getting kids educated belongs to the educational system, including teachers...but they can't do it alone. The parent, the student and the community also bear responsibility.

Obama plans to change the educational system, but he knows that is not enough unless the other responsible parties...students and parents...do their part. THAT is what he was saying.

[Winterblues]

9. It was a line that will be recorded in History for quite some time to come.

It was the President of the USA calling out those kids that are thinking of dropping out. Making them of more than just themselves. It was brilliant and important. It is one of America's greatest failings. Allowing so many of our children to just drop out...

[Cerridwen]

10. My father, born in the 30s, dropped out after the 8th grade.

He did so to help support his family; he was the oldest.

He spent over 20 years as a Teamster; shop steward, head of the grievance committee, etc. His spelling sucked and his grammar was atrocious; I started correcting them both then later typing up union forms for him when *I* was in the 7th grade. He did more for those people with whom he worked than many Ph.D.s who taught my college classes. Hell, just my typing and correcting was more than many of those Ph.Ds ever did for the "working stiff."

My mother graduated high school. She too was union and served as shop steward, etc. See what I said about my dad above (except spelling and grammar) and there's my mom.

My brother dropped out of HS his senior year. He's held the same union job for over 30 years. He does nothing for the union but pay dues.

I have a college degree. I've worked union and non-union jobs. I've done more through my political activism than my brother has ever thought of doing.

Education does not automatically confer intelligence. The lack of same does not automatically confer either "stupidity" or ignorance.

My college degree "pitted" against an Ivy League university would be considered shit. Education does not equal education does not equal education.

Not every person attending school will "get" the same education even though they may pursue identical curricula.

There is no, one-size-fits-all equation.

Many of those who recently "let down this country" were "experts" in their fields and products of Ivy League education. Economic melt-down anyone?

My father, nor my brother, "let down this country." I despise "sound bite," simplistic, jingoism.

[The2ndWheel]

11. You must fit in

All this cooperation talk is just that, crap. It's about competition. It's about being #1 on the various lists of global rankings. It's not about humans working together. It's about out-competing the people in China, and you'll never meet most of them.

You will be forced to compete. You will be required to be a rat in the race. You have no other option. To do otherwise, is death. Your life is not yours. You belong to the global corporate state. Don't let it down.

[YvonneCa]

12. Who, me?

:7