What Every Parent Should Read to Their Kid Today -

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Where Have I Heard This Before?

In a special ceremony, the children with the b...

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It’s the first day back to school. A time for jubilation for a lot of parents and step-parents (myself included). It’s also an opportunity to set the new school year standard. This is exactly what President Obama did in his ‘Back to School Speech’. I will be reading and discussing it with my girls this evening after dinner.

It’s not like there’s anything new in the President’s message. As I read the text this morning I thought, “How many times have I told my girls those very same things?”

But coming from the authority of the President of the United States, those words definitely have more clout and meaning than any mere parent, and certainly a step-parent, could deliver.

Can You Relate?

The first job of any great speaker is to establish connection and rapport with his audience. The President did this by acknowledging the first-day jitters of those students beginning in a new environment, whether that was kindergarten, middle school or high school. He related his own early childhood experience, getting up at 4:30 AM to receive lessons from his mother who couldn’t afford to send him to an official school in Indonesia.

The President wasted no time. Being a ‘Back to School’ speech, he could have talked about the famous the R’s, Readin’, Ritin’, and Rithmatic. Rather, he chose one of my favorite R words, ‘Responsibility’. Yes, he mentioned that teachers, parents and government have huge responsibility to do their parts. However, he was very emphatic that all these were nothing without the students taking personal responsibility for their own roles.

You Don’t Have to Like It

When I was a kid, one of my dad’s favorite phrases was, “You don’t have to like it, you just have to do it.” Oh, how I hated those words. Like most kids, I couldn’t see doing something that was irrelevant.

That was exactly the message President Obama delivered today. He told the students that there would be subjects that seemed unimportant or unnecessary. Some subjects would be hard and challenging. He also mentioned that many students would have things going on in their lives that would prevent them from focusing 100%.

Then, like any good parent, he delivered the main theme of his speech strong and clear, “I expect you to do your best anyway, no matter what is going on in your life. There is no excuse for not doing your best.” Thank you, Mr. President!

Laying Down the Gauntlet

The President made it clear that education IS the opportunity. He cited historical references from the beginning of the US 250 years ago to the recent years of technological explosion of how our predecessors made the most of their opportunities. He challenged students that they would only know if they could write the next Harry Potter novel by handing in their English assignments today. They would only know if they could produce the next iPhone technology if they participated in science projects. They would only discover solutions by developing their problem solving skills through mathematics.

He talked about one of the most important elements of all, the human spirit. Even when things are tough, when you are most discouraged, when it looks like the world is giving up on you… NEVER give up on yourself.

Can you imagine a future generation of people who take personal responsibility seriously, make the most of every opportunity and NEVER give up on themselves? That’s the direction President Obama pointed our kids when he delivered his message today. You gotta Love That Feeling!