esident Obama's address to school children next week and how to communicate=
that decision to parents.
Below the signature line of this email. is a message that one of our member=
schools in Florida sent to families.
Cheers.
PFB
Patrick F. Bassett, President
N A T I O N A L A S S O C I A T I O N O F I N D E P E N D E N T S C H O=
O L S
1620 L St., NW, Washington, DC 20036
202.973.9710 (Office)
202.746.5444 (Cell)
202-247-9667 (Fax)
bassett@nais.org<mailto:bassett@nais.org> www.nais.org<http://www.nais.or=
g>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~=
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~=
~
September 4, 2009
Dear Academy Families:
A small number of our families this week inquired about whether we intend t=
o show our students President Obama's upcoming speech to our nation's schoo=
l children. Some families have requested that their children be removed fr=
om such a presentation; others have requested that we show the speech. We d=
o not intend to show a live broadcast of the speech. Our reason is that we=
don't think it's really intended for students like ours, as it is designed=
to be a message about staying in school, about taking responsibility to do=
your homework and encouraging all students to accept the value system of s=
chool and the idea that being a good student will lead to improvement in yo=
ur life. Almost all of our students have internalized this message long ag=
o. Still, I feel a need to comment about the idea of viewing a presidential=
speech and requests for children to opt out of viewing a speech.
We very much want to engage our students about the world around them and ab=
out taking part in our democratic system. We feel that they ought to learn=
about our national issues and hear perspectives on those issues regardless=
of which party's philosophy they might endorse. As an administration, we =
see a big problem in our country today - that, as a nation, we are not very=
good right now at engaging in civil discussion and disagreement about the =
policies and political philosophies that are being "debated" in the public =
square. We very much want our school to be a place where our students lear=
n to listen to all sides of a debate and engage in questioning, answering, =
and exploring, but always in a polite and civil tone. We do not want our s=
tudents to become liberals. We do not want our students to become conserva=
tives. We want them to learn how to listen respectfully, how to question r=
espectfully, and how to come to their own opinions and votes while respecti=
ng those who may come to different conclusions. We want them to learn how t=
o be citizens. In order to do that, they have to be exposed to different p=
oints of view. We would like them to study those points of view.
If we were to show the President's speech, we would hope that those familie=
s who disagree with the President's comments would engage their children in=
discussion about what the President says, and that they will in turn provi=
de (and teach) their own countervailing views. When you do so, please also=
reinforce rules of respect and polite civil discourse. ("We disagree with =
the President because . . ." )
We want our students to learn that patriots can disagree about policy choic=
es in a democracy while still loving their country and wanting the best for=
all of her people. Opting out of hearing a speech by the President or a m=
ember of the clergy from a different religion or any opinionated speaker do=
es not serve the goal of learning about others and, eventually, yourself. =
We believe that our students' education is well-served by exploration and e=
ngagement about issues, not by refusing to even hear opposing views.
As a school, we are absolutely fine with our students disagreeing with whom=
ever is President and voicing that disagreement, even publicly, as long as =
every student shows respect to every speaker and every event that they atte=
nd. We want all of our students to know that they have the right to disagr=
ee with the President or their Congressman or the Governor, and that they h=
ave many appropriate avenues in which to voice that disagreement, including=
their vote.
Our democracy needs its young people. But before they turn 18 they ought t=
o learn how to be better citizens and better participants than the models t=
hey see in their daily swim through our culture's waters. The Academy at t=
he Lakes educational experience will help them learn how to participate wit=
h respect for others, respect for ideas, and respect for our country, the g=
reatest nation on Earth.
Sincerely,
Mark Heller
Head of School
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