奥巴马给中小学生鼓励

音频下载[点击右键另存为]
As we mentioned, the speech was available on C-SPAN, so students across the country could watch it in school. In some districts, it was mandatory. In others, kids could opt out and do something else, like sit in the library. Here is a look at how the speech went over at schools across the country.

I thought that the important message for me was to be responsible for ourselves and take actions for ourselves.

You cannot drop out of school and just drop into a good job.

Part of the President’s speech that drew a few chuckles from the classroom here was when he said, you know, if you think you are gonna be successful by being a rapper or a basketball star or a reality star, that’s probably not gonna happen. We had a little bit of laughter here in the classroom.

But not every student in America saw the speech. Five parents objected to their children listening to the President’s speech. And as the President spoke, they were in the school library with another supervised activity. I did get, um, one phone call. It was anonymous and they asked that we don’t show the broadcast.

I’m not comfortable with these teachers viewing it first and then showing the students just because, you know, there is a lot of controversy, and you know, they just don't wanna run into any problems.

I think it’s a great thing the President is doing. And I think all high school students need to be reminded that this is a time in their life where they do really have to work hard, focus on their education. The President is a great role model.

 The President said that if you quit on yourself, then you’re quitting on your country.  And I thought that that was very important.

Well, if you or your kids missed the President’s speech, you can see the whole thing on our website, go to www.hxen.net