Yesterday I had a chance to talk with 4 of my 6 classes about Obama's speech to Congress, to get their reactions. In general, the reactions were favorable. They were not so kind, those of them who watched, with Jindal's response. And they were curious, and at times annoyed, with some of the ceremonial accoutrements they were, in many cases, encountering for the first time.
I'm not sure that one could say they offered any unusual insights. But it is perhaps interesting to see how it played through the eyes of teenagers, most of whom were favorably disposed towards Obama during the campaign.
And for context, three of the classes were Advanced Placement, one was perhaps my lowest performing class (the other two were taught yesterday by my student teacher, who did not get into the speech). The AP classes are mixed by racial background, the other is almost exclusively African-American, with several Hispanic kids, including two in our English as a Second Language program.
First the reaction to the accoutrements and ceremonial. Very few of my students had ever seen one of these before, official a state of the union or not. Those who tuned in early were a bit puzzled by things they saw. The formal announcing of the groups like the Justices, Diplomats, military and cabinet seemed a bit odd, with one student wondering why their presence was necessary if this was a speech to Congress. The whole celebratory entrance - of these groups and later of the President - seemed to a number of students a colossal waste of time, punctuated by what happened once the President got to the podium - a 2 minute ovation, followed by another ovation when he was formal introduced.
There was lots of commentary on what student characterized as the yo-yo nature of Nancy Pelosi jumping up and clapping so often, with the multiple interruptions of the speech. And of course, being perceptive young people, they commented on the times when Republicans did and did not stand in response to Nancy and the Dems (now, is that a new rock group?) leaping up and applauding some moment in Obama's words.
One students described the whole process of the standing ovations as overblown and a colossal waste of time. He just wanted to hear the speech.
Several students commented about seeing all the people reading along with the text. That led to an interesting discussion about whether reading a speech has the same impact as listening and watching. One young lady opined that if all that mattered was the organization of the words on the page why even bother going to the House chamber, perhaps they could have stayed home and simply read the words. In response someone else pointed out that without the speech the members might not have known when to stand up and applaud. In one class several students remarked that there were so many occasions when the people stood up that when they did so for our favorite 8th grade student from South Carolina, that made it less meaningful. About her, in the AP classes there were remarks about how composed, unfazed she was, with the attention.
About the content. One student asked in puzzlement how Obama could increase spending, cut taxes for 95% of the people and still cut the deficit in half. Several other students nodded their heads at that comment.
They all grasped the idea of the three pillars of his economic approach: energy, education and health care.
One student commented on the contrast between seeing Obama's head going from side to side, almost never looking straight ahead, versus Jindal's fixed forward gaze. He found Jindal's approach somewhat creepy.
"Don't mess with Joe!" A lot of students commented about that, with several asking if that was in the prepared text or just another example of Obama winging it, responding to the moment, as some students had observed during the campaign.
One student watched on a channel with a dial group, and noted that often the McCain voters responded more strongly than did the Obama voters, particularly on things like regulation.
"It sounded like he didn't want us to be too scared, even though it is scary out there." One comment that stuck with me, from a non-AP student.
"I'm glad he cares about our schools." "But why $2,500? That won't pay for anything." That lead to my having to explain tax credits versus direct payments. And several students wondered why only one year of post high school education was set as the criteria, noting you really can't learn that much in only a year.
Several students found the process boring, in part because of the interruptions, sometimes because they are tired of hearing about all the problems. One student who classifies himself as a libertarian felt that Obama actually spoke in ways and about issues that mattered to him, that he was showing his willingness to reach out to those who didn't support him in the election.
As to Jindal, several sets of comments stick in my mind. I did hear one student make the comparison with Alfred E. Neuman. One young lady thought Jindal thought the people were stupid, because what he was saying was so ridiculous. A young man, like Jindal of Indian origin, explained why he viewed the Louisiana Governor as an embarrassment - he is a Republican when most Indians are heavily Democratic, and he is a Catholic, while most are like the young man Hindu, and those who are Christian tend to be things like 7th Day Adventist. Here I have to provide some context for the remarks on religion. There is a large Hindu temple in Lanham, which is within our attendance district. And the world headquarters of the 7th Day Adventists is in Takoma Park, which is only a few miles west off the Beltway. Thus the perception of the Indian community he experiences among other students in the school and in the community is heavily shaped by that.
Less than half the students watched Jindal. Of those who did, no one chose to offer anything complimentary about watching him or hearing what he had to say. Contrast this with some mildly critical remarks about Obama, including those about how he could pay for everything.
The strongest response of the students was to Ty'Sheoma Bethea and the President's focus on her. Some students thought it amazing that a President would pay attention to a school student. This led to a discussion of why Lincoln grew his beard (seriously!), as well as my pointing out to them how it demonstrates that they can never know who will listen to their voices.
There was also a positive reaction to the man so generous with his money, sharing it with his employees. That enabled me to illustrate with a personal experience, of a company I had worked for many years ago, where the three owners got bought out by a larger company, but gave each of us stock, stock options and cash in return for (and in proportion to) the work we had done helping develop the company. In one class that led to a brief discussion of responsibility of management and ownership to the workers who build the company.
As I look back, I would say that in general my students continue to respond favorably to Obama. They want to hope. They feel he gives them hope.
At best they were puzzled by Jindal. A few were dismissive.
Several people asked me to share how my students reacted. So I have.
Peace.