I think this is a great idea President Obama and his team have. So many politicians do not give any thought to our generation because they believe we do not have any control with voting or have any interest in politics. Sure this may be true, but on the other hand, we are growing up and decisions being made now will affect us in the future.
President Obama is taking the initiative to show our interest by giving our generation the time and energy to talk with us. I believe that politicians should not leave us out. I mean we are the ones who will be making the decisions in a few years. I know we aren't very interested right now, but they still shouldn't ignore us and our opinions. Some of us actually have opinions to give.
An example of a politician thinking we don't make our own opinions/decisions is Carl Paladino the Republican Candidate for New York. Paladino was discussing homosexuality and said "I don't want them [kids] to be brainwashed into thinking that homosexuality is an equally valid or successful option." Basically he is telling parents stop teaching/"brainwashing" your kids into believing being gay is OK. Well I'm not going to go into how dumb this statement is. That can be a blog post in and of itself. But excuse me Mr. Paladino. Most parents are as equally close-minded as you. We the kids are more socially liberal and can choose who we want to judge or accept/like. And not to burst your bubble, but we decided a while ago that openly gay citizens are people too and we should not treat them differently. Most parents didn't teach that, so don't lay into them. The people you should be directing your speech to are the "kids". You need to actually pay attention to us and talk to us about what you "believe" is right.
Anyway, back to the point. I'm glad the president is taking time to speak with us and hearing our opinions, our likes and our dislikes. So whether or not you agree with President Obama, everyone one of us should tune in to one of the channels listed above and hear what he has to say. If the numbers of those watching are high, this will show adults/politicians how, despite what they think, we actually do pay attention and have our own opinion separate from them.
I know I will actually take the time to watch President Obama this time, will you?
Links used:
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1649305/20101005/story.jhtml?xrs=eml_MTVNews6
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/10/carl-paladino-brainwashed-homosexuality-lifestyle_n_757460.html
I love that Obama is really trying to reach out to young voters. We get the government we deserve and if we are not involved we have no right to complain!
ReplyDeleteI am glad you wrote a post about this to help get the word out about this event! I think it is very important that young people tune in. I am sure many young people won't watch because they will claim that they don't like Obama or that their opinions don't matter. But, I certainly don't want to hear those same people complain about the current administration because it is very admirable that Obama is taking the time to specifically address our nation's youth. Also, he is everyone's president whether you like him or not and the only way he will be able to make our country better is if everyone is willing to work together!
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