Parents upset over 'leftist propaganda' video

[The Straight Story]

Parents upset over 'leftist propaganda' video

A school principal has apologized for showing a video at an assembly that a politically conservative group leader is calling "radical, leftist propaganda."

Children at Eagle Bay Elementary School in Farmington were shown a short video called "I pledge" on Aug. 28. The video opens with an image of President Barack Obama and part of a speech in which he says, "Let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other." The video then features celebrities making pledges about how they will help the president and the world -- and that's where some say the problem lies.

Many pledges, such as supporting local food banks,smiling more, and caring for the elderly are noncontroversial. But other pledges, such as "to never give anyone the finger when I'm driving again," "to sell my obnoxious car and buy a hybrid" and to advance stem cell research cross the line, some say.

"Showing the video in a public school is completely inappropriate," said Jennifer Cieslewicz, whose daughter is a first-grader at the school. "I don't believe a video such as this that promotes certain values should be shown to elementary students, especially without parents being aware. "

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_13249171?source=most_viewed

[Mari333]

1. and the real reason the parents dont like it

drumroll

hes a black man.

[seabeyond]

3. fear of diverse think and loss of control. and i see it on both sides....

i dont care what info is given to kids in academic environment. in connection to children, all the talking and conversations... we look at diverse thinking and discuss it. a good thing for us. to only have info we agree being talk or all being water downed to not offend hurts us the most. out of the box, open critical thinking are good things. and not somethng to be fearful of.

but so many are

on both sides

[BumRushDaShow]

2. "Patiotism" is the new "Socialism" now?

:rofl:

They always say that when one goes so far to the right they will eventually end up circling back to the left.

[TxRider]

4. To be fair

It also has a pledge... "to be of service to Barack Obama"

It's my belief a president is elected to serve the people, not the other way around.

I can see why some would protest that.

As for the rest, I have no big problem with it, but showing a vid of hollywood celebs pledging these things is probably not the most appropriate thing to do at a school.

It's not leftist at all IMO, just not a very smart thing to do.

[roody]

5. If I showed it to upper grade elementary, I would

talk about how partisan it is. It is Obama propaganda. Take him out and it is okay.

[jbnow]

6. I didn't see where it had a pledge for the kids to be of service

to President Obama. From the article it sounds like one (or more?) of the celebrities said it, they could say what they wanted. There were other pledges they disliked but I find nothing that there was any request to pledge to be of service to Obama. Obama certainly doesn't ask for a pledge.
The closest it comes is him in a speech excerpt asking that we resolve "to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other."

The article quotes someone who agrees with your thought
"Also she said she didn't like a pledge "to be of service to Barack Obama" as he is here to serve Americans, not the other way around."
It's true the president serves us...but he was not asking us to serve him...but one another.

The school played it to go with the schools year of service theme. In normal times this would not be a problem. With hating Obama being a national past time I can see it was a bad call to show it.