13 Responses to “In His Own Words: Watch Malcolm Thomas On Obama Speech”

1. LTR on September 17th, 2009 3:19 pm

   It is amazing that the same individuals that feel a need to protect their children from a message from the President of the United States because of their conservative views, are the same parents that are fighting with their children to stay in school and stay out of trouble. If the encouragement that was offered from the President was offered in the home environment our children would not be involved in the rhetoric in which they find themselves. People want to claim to be conservative and yet they continually go against the principles on which that view was founded. Conservatives were originally rooted in the church and carried love, support, and traditionalism to our communities. Today conservativism means you can do anything under the sun just don’t get caught.
   Children view so many non-conservative videos, books, and other material in public schools that I refuse to allow my child to be apart of it. If we want to teach our children something… teach them to be moral, self-thinking, analytical, responsible young adults and adults.
   An opportunity missed is what this was. Many children would have counted it an honor and a priviledge to be addressed by the President of the United States because they may never have that opportunity again considering the way our country is evolving.
   I do not agree with superintendent Thomas and I believe that his actions were more in response to pressure than technical incapabilities.

2. Escambia County School District Mom on September 9th, 2009 9:27 pm

   Mr. Thomas,

   I agree with you and appreciate the thought which went into this decision.

   A Escambia County School District Sr. Student Mom

3. Sick of the card being played on September 9th, 2009 1:42 pm

   No Angela, you are wrong. You should not want to watch the speech with your kids and explain it to them in a parents words. That makes you a right wing zealot, neocon, racist ,insert your own word. We should all bow down and let the dems tell us how to raise our kids. After all, they should tell how to raise our children seeing that their doing such an outstanding job running the country at the moment.

4. Angela on September 9th, 2009 7:49 am

   My children watched it after they got home. Home, where things like this belongs. I would not have agreed to Bush, McCain, or any other political figure speaking to my kids either. Yes my kids will have their own minds and turn out to vote how ever they choose WHEN they grow up, after I teach them the things that make this country great and how we should keep the Constitution alive and well and not try to circumvent it in anyway, abuse it, or take it for granted. I did not agree with 90% of how Bush ran this country, but I’m about 90% sure that Obama isn’t going to do any better. I do not believe they took a “conservative point of view”, they were playing it safe and just saying watch it at home. Trust me FEA and NEA is nothing about conservative views. With my mom and sister both teaching in other states, they are “lone wolves” in a pack of lefties and liberals.

   My kids want to ride their bikes without helmets, eat sweets more than they should, play to many video games…..So I am teaching them right from wrong. My kids have a lot of opinions that are different from mine, but our core values are the same, as I hope that they will remain.

   As far as “Let’s work together instead of against each other” No one is working against anyone else in this particular matter….They are leaving up TO THE PARENTS to watch him speak and discuss afterward in a NEUTRAL safe environment how they feel. With more and more super Democrat/Liberal teachers (especially up here in the North end) I do not want my child to feel like the outcast which they both have been in last years election…… Once again- These things belong AT HOME not In school.

5. Kevin Bethea on September 8th, 2009 5:07 pm

   I guess that if John McCain had won, it would have been Okay to show the speech! Come on people we should be more upset about the problems that are occurring on the bus routes this year. We have gone so far that we have now taken America out of the schools. We have to remember that it was not just the liberals that got him elected, there was not enough of them. As far as bringing politics into school, that was done by the distric when they decided to take a “conservative” point of view and refuse to allow the President of the most powerful nation on the planet to speak to the future leaders of this great nation. We have to remember that no matter what OUR beliefs are, our children have minds also, let them have an opinion. People are acting as if there was some sort of hidden message that was going to turn their children into Democrats. This line of thinking is why Escambia, has very little industry, other that tourism. I do not aprove of all of President Obama’s policies either, but a few words of encouragement from our leader is not going to bring someone who is raised on the right, over to the left. Let’s work together instead of against each other, and straighten out the mess that both parties has allowed to pile up on us, or our children will have to clean it up themselves.

6. Angela on September 8th, 2009 3:25 pm

   I am so glad that my child was not in the classroom with her EXTREME leftwing teacher and watching this. Last year during election was hard enough on my kids having Obama shoved at them during election at school. My child is brought up as a conservative and I do not want her harassed at school by peers which is probably what would have happened after her teacher once again went on the bash the conservative folks. I THANK YOU WHOLE HEARTLY for not making my child see this in an environment that could have made her feel “small”…. Teachers need to keep their left wing minds to themselves and not be able to push it on all children. (Not that his speech was like that as I taped it to watch as a family tonight and us have our own discussions.)

7. our family on September 8th, 2009 3:22 pm

   I support this decision as it is best to play it safe. there will be lots of questions and concerns either way if it was viewed or not. I think students should watch this with their parents so they can discuss it at home, after all thet was the presidents message right, do your best at home and school?

8. Sarah on September 8th, 2009 3:10 pm

   Mr Thomas I agree with you. I feel for the leaders in public schools having to be so careful of every decision they make. I believe when prayer was taken out of the schools God was also taken out. That makes everyones job so much more difficult. I am praying for leaders like you.

9. molino jim on September 8th, 2009 3:03 pm

   It sounded at the end of Mr Thomas statement that the board and the teachers could pick out the parts they wanted to use. This is when the Presidents statement to the students could be used to give a false reading or meaning. Hope Mr Thomas can find some nice big boxes for all of his awards he has on his office wall after the next election.

10. Brenda on September 8th, 2009 12:05 pm

    Mr. Thomas:

    I hope that you at least listened to President Obama’s speech to the schools and I hope you now recognize that your decision rendered a terrible injustice to our children. President Obama spoke words of encouragement to the children of this country, words that I had hoped you insisted that the teachers under your leadership also do. However, from your decision to not allow the students to watch and listen I know that you do not promote education for ALL children. This is a very vital part of history that they missed. Shame on you!!!

11. William on September 8th, 2009 11:26 am

    The video has been uploaded again. We’ve increased the volume. The volume on the original clip from the school district was very poor.

12. hillbilly on September 8th, 2009 11:17 am

    why is the volume so low?

    I turned up all the controls on my machine, AND the media player device- hard to hear…

13. EMD on September 8th, 2009 10:22 am

    His position sounds reasonable to me. Thank you Mr. Thomas. I sure am glad I do not have your job.