A video that shows young kids at a school in Burlington, N.J., being taught to sing the praises of President Obama has surfaced on YouTube. Do you think it’s appropriate for students at a public school to be taught to sing songs of praise about Obama, or any sitting president?
Schoolchildren Taught To Sing Praise To Obama
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17 Responses to Schoolchildren Taught To Sing Praise To Obama
I think it definitely borders on creepy. I personally am a strong proponent of teachers keeping their political views (whatever they may be) out of the classroom.
I bet the people who think this was a great idea would have been up in arms had the song been a song of praise for fmr pres Bush. It is just plain creepy.
Oh no, I don’t like this. I’m not quite sure of all the words, but I caught enough to hear it was praise. I have no idea of the history, but I’m guessing they don’t sing about the other presidents? I would be fine with that, if they had songs about historical strong-points of a group of presidents. If not, I think they should be singing about the role of the president or something along those lines..Schoolhouse Rock.
I agree, Erin, and that should be all the way up through the college level. I believe a college level professor has every right to express their opinion after teaching and discussing both sides of the issues. It is imperative that they do not let their beliefs determine the grade of the student based on their belief.
My youngest son voted for Obama but also has quite a few conservative beliefs (pretty hard not to living with my husband). He mentioned to us several times while he was in college that he felt his grade was affected by what he wrote on his paper more so than how he wrote his paper.
I am sure this teacher was very excited about President Obama’s win and she has every right to be. But this particular song was a little too much. Teaching respect for the Presidency is absolutely something I would want my child to be part of. But it really needs to be impartial.
I was really quite shocked by this. I really don’t know what the teachers were thinking. The president has earned his place in my son’s history books, not on his high tops or his backpack. He is not an NBA star and the fact that he(and others) is trying to market himself to children in such a way makes me very uncomfortable. I will teach my children about politics based on MY values and that is MY right as a parent. If my child’s school can’t have a play about Christmas, they sure as hell won’t be chanting about Obama.
I heard that this was a song of Praise to Jesus, and that Obama’s name was put in place of the name of Jesus. I don’t know if that is true, but if it, I have a big problem with that.
A teacher takes a song that is not allowed to be sung in school with the name of Jesus in it, but it’s okay to sing that same song of praise to Obama? I don’t get it.
As far as praising Obama, let’s see what he does first. And as far as respecting him, yes, all the children should be taught to respect the Office of the President, whether he be Democrat or Republican. I’m not sure but I don’t think this song was sung just because of the stature of any United States President, because I doubt that this song would be sung today in that school if John McCain had won. I can’t be sure, but I highly doubt any songs of praise would be sung about McCain. And if there were, I would think there should be an outcry.
Not every parent has the same views, and I think it sends a conflicting message to a child if he/she is hearing one thing at home and another at school.
Pam, I know for a fact what you say is true about grades being marked according to conservative/liberal views. A few years ago my niece said her friends were arguing about this very subject, so they decided to do a little experiment, the liberal friends all wrote papers with a more conservative view and the conservative friends wrote more liberal-minded papers. Lo and behold, all of a sudden the conservative kids grades started going up while the liberal kids saw their grades plummet!
Mind-boggling in my opinion!
Eileen, if you listen to the song you will hear that it says “Barack Hussein Obama, thinks we should have equal pay” etc….. not exactly replacing Jesus’s name.
I watched a debate about this on Hannity this morning and they played the clip w/the song’s words captioned. I will say I am shocked at the stupidity of the teacher for a)video taping the song, b) putting it on Youtube, c) pushing her views on these young children. I do think it is important to teach the respect one should have for the president, & I think the message of the “equal pay” and “working together to make the world a better place” is a great message, I just think it could have been done in a different way.
Fanny, I think you are spot on about the schools not being able to have X-Mas plays etc. then they shouldn’t be pushing political views. All views should be represented IMO.
I just heard about this today….and I think the teacher is nuts. Absolutely nuts. How can anyone be so insensitive to the OTHER political viewpoints out there? Sheez!
I really would like a transcript because I had a hard time hearing all the words.
I did hear enough, however, to agree that the whole thing was inappropriate on a few different levels.
I am a bit conflicted, however. I think there are still many people out there that are justifiably proud that we have our first African-American president and in their enthusiasm they may not fully understand that there is still a divide in this country over the Obama administration’s policies. This teacher went too far, but I think it may have started out more innocent. I could be wrong.
I have attended college in a very liberal part of the country. It’s annoying listening to instructors sprout their political and religious views without (seemingly) the recognition that the whole class isn’t in agreement. That said, I can’t say I have ever felt my grades were affected by taking a different position. Maybe I have been lucky.
Lastly, I think we are talking apples and oranges in regards to this particular issue and schools hosting Christmas plays, which would be seen by many as a promotion of Christianity over other religions.
Song 1:
Mm, mmm, mm!
Barack Hussein Obama
He said that all must lend a hand
To make this country strong again
Mmm, mmm, mm!
Barack Hussein Obama
He said we must be fair today
Equal work means equal pay
Mmm, mmm, mm!
Barack Hussein Obama
He said that we must take a stand
To make sure everyone gets a chance
Mmm, mmm, mm!
Barack Hussein Obama
He said red, yellow, black or white
All are equal in his sight
Mmm, mmm, mm!
Barack Hussein Obama
Yes!
Mmm, mmm, mm
Barack Hussein Obama
Song 2:
Hello, Mr. President we honor you today!
For all your great accomplishments, we all doth say “hooray!”
Hooray, Mr. President! You’re number one!
The first black American to lead this great nation!
Hooray, Mr. President we honor your great plans
To make this country’s economy number one again!
Hooray Mr. President, we’re really proud of you!
And we stand for all Americans under the great Red, White, and Blue!
So continue —- Mr. President we know you’ll do the trick
So here’s a hearty hip-hooray —-
Hip, hip hooray!
Hip, hip hooray!
Hip, hip hooray!
Thanks, Pam.
I actually don’t find it that provocative from a political standpoint. Well-written? Well that’s another story! (Not so much).
I like to think we can have a certain level of respect for the Office of the President and for this particular President’s own history-making story without getting into our political differences. Maybe that is wishful thinking.
On the flip side, I would like to think I wouldn’t have had a problem with something similar being done for President Bush. When the tides turn (and they will) and we again have a conservative in office, I’ll try and remember my words!
I think it is weird and creepy. That’s about all I am going to say. In my forty years I don’t recall ever hearing a song about a president while he was in office.
To those who have said “creepy” I hate to be an echo but I completely agree. I would feel the same way if it were a song about Bush )or McCain. Honoring the position of President is one thing but this little diddy is unacceptable. Even aside from the general creepiness the teacher is pushing her political views on young children- if this were my child’s class the you know what would hit the proverbial fan big time.
I think it’s wholly inappropriate. Barack Obama seems to inspire much more of a “cult of personality” than any president in living memory, and I don’t think that’s a good thing. (Nor, for the record, do I think it’s Obama’s fault; I don’t think he’s cultivating that image deliberately, certainly.)
The flip side is that he inspires extreme, very personal hatred. I know people think that Bush did but I don’t recall people who disliked Bush seeing him as personally such a menacing and dangerous figure – there was dislike but a lot of the belief seemed to be that he was at least partly being controlled by others (Cheney, etc.). I read today about authorities investigating some Facebook poll that asked “Should Barack Obama be assassinated?” The fact that rhetoric has reached these levels (pro- and con-) so early in his admistration concerns me. I do worrya bout his safety, quite a bit.
Every time I am asked a question after I see or hear something I try to remember how I felt when I first saw or heard it. In other words, trust my gut reaction. I had an uneasy feeling in my gut when I first saw this video. I have always been unhappy with the left bent of our school systems, but this must be stopped. I also try to wonder what would happen if the Right did this and was worshiping George Bush this way. The outrage from the Left would be earth shattering. Reading, Writing and Arithmetic. Please leave it at that and leave the politics to the parents.
I did see something on The Daily Show last night that included a clip of a smiling Laura Bush with schoolchildren who had been victims of Hurricane Katrina. The children had been taught and prompted to sing a song:
… Congress, Bush and FEMA
People across our land
Together have come to rebuild us
and we join them hand-in-hand!
So it’s not just Obama who has received inappropriate praise (and I would be very surprised if there aren’t numerous instances in history of other presidents receiving the same treatment).
The report on TDS also put the Obama song in context – it did apparently occur around Presidents Day last February and was part of a program that praised other presidents as well. I still do think it was inappropriate, but the hullaboo is beginning to seem a lot more disturbing to me than the original song. Purportedly death threats have been made to officials at the school in question. A parade of windbags on TV have made comparisons to 1930s Germany, Pol Pot, Stalin, etc., ignoring the fact that the song was not prompted by Obama or the White House and they had nothing to do with it. I’ll repeat that I don’t believe Obama is TRYING to create a cult of personality or anything sinister like that.
None of this hysteria helps AT ALL. It just makes people on “both sides” defensive and angry. I didn’t like it when the left compared Bush to Hitler, either. (You know who was like Hitler? Hitler. That’s about it.) I certainly did not like some of the erosion of civil liberities that occured during his administration but I never approved, and continue to disapprove, of overreactions to his policies. Bush didn’t ruin America. Obama is not going to ruin America. Everyone just needs to chill out.
Great accomplishments?
All he’s done so far is drive the country deeper in debt, further emasculate our military and made the country less safe from terrorism. Oh yeah and he’s further screwed up health care too. Requiring individuals to buy health care is another, unfunded federal mandate that nobody wants.
Very impressive.
Were there not similar songs taught to children by hitler and mussolini?