Won't someone think of the children?
Monday evening, at Corvallis High School's graduation ceremony, math teacher Rob Cornell was one of the keynote speakers. I want to emphasize this following point right upfront, as many in the community don't seem to understand this part: the graduating students took a vote and Cornell was selected by a majority to give this speech. Students wanted to hear what Cornell had to say.
And he had a lot to say.
To summarize, he talked about what makes America great, or not so great, and asked provoking questions about the actions of our government and citizenry of late. His own thoughts were fairly obvious throughout, but he concluded by telling students that they must decide the veracity of the statements he had fed them... that the important message he was trying to send was to actually think about these issues and participate, vote, be an educated consumer... not crawl under a rock of avoidance or float along with the current stream of public opinion simply because that would be the easy thing to do.
Before he was finished, some people in the audience began to boo and a few apparently walked out. There has been an ensuing flurry of letters to the editor in the paper, many from people who claimed to be offended by his "extreme opinions on what's going on in the world." Those are the words of one member of the graduating class, who also claimed to feel sorry for the families Mr. Cornell offended.
Wow. So asking students to think, analyze and make decisions on their own, as opposed to swallowing opinions of their parents or sound bites on TV is extreme? I find it terribly sad that someone so young has already closed her mind to this extent, unless she really just stopped listening before Cornell reached the part emphasizing that students decide for themselves whether they agree with him or not. The opinion of another student was printed this morning, restoring my faith in the idealism of youth.
My own teenager will be entering Crescent Valley High School in another year. We chose CVHS for a number of reasons, but Mr. Cornell's speech almost made me reconsider.
And he had a lot to say.
To summarize, he talked about what makes America great, or not so great, and asked provoking questions about the actions of our government and citizenry of late. His own thoughts were fairly obvious throughout, but he concluded by telling students that they must decide the veracity of the statements he had fed them... that the important message he was trying to send was to actually think about these issues and participate, vote, be an educated consumer... not crawl under a rock of avoidance or float along with the current stream of public opinion simply because that would be the easy thing to do.
Before he was finished, some people in the audience began to boo and a few apparently walked out. There has been an ensuing flurry of letters to the editor in the paper, many from people who claimed to be offended by his "extreme opinions on what's going on in the world." Those are the words of one member of the graduating class, who also claimed to feel sorry for the families Mr. Cornell offended.
Wow. So asking students to think, analyze and make decisions on their own, as opposed to swallowing opinions of their parents or sound bites on TV is extreme? I find it terribly sad that someone so young has already closed her mind to this extent, unless she really just stopped listening before Cornell reached the part emphasizing that students decide for themselves whether they agree with him or not. The opinion of another student was printed this morning, restoring my faith in the idealism of youth.
My own teenager will be entering Crescent Valley High School in another year. We chose CVHS for a number of reasons, but Mr. Cornell's speech almost made me reconsider.
posted by Corvallist at
1:50 PM
7 Comments:
I think a lot of people, kids and parents, like status quo and apathy and lack of challenge, because it requires so little of them. It's so easy not to think, or to just let everything hard to think about or do, slide on by like it doesn't exist. Any challenge, requires effort. I'm glad that teacher spoke as he did, to provoke challenge and thought.
By
Anonymous, at 3:07 PM
His speech was outstanding. I read the whole thing and am glad that there are public school employees who tell the truth like that. He deserves a medal, not some ignorant bozos booing him.
By
crallspace, at 9:46 AM
*sigh* a politicized high school graduation speech is polarizing. High school is clique-y enough without having a teacher reinforce the local dominant political paradigm in a way that can marginalize others. There's a lot to be said for a generic, "you all worked hard, now go tackle life" kind of speech. What would people be saying if a majority of students chose somebody to speak who invoked jebus or said "give Bush a chance?" -- everybody would be seething and freaking out. High school graduations are for everybody, not just those who think of others as "ignorant bozos" or those who think that our volunteer military is comprised of mere cannon fodder.
By
Anonymous, at 6:39 PM
I think it would be a shame if people booed or walked out even if a "Bush rocks!" speech was given instead. It could certainly be done in similar fashion... for example, asking kids to serve their country in some capacity is no devilish thing. If a Republican teacher stood up and said "consider serving your country, decide for yourself whether or not you think our system of taxation is truly fair, question whether you would risk security for excessive personal freedoms, but hey, think for yourself," I would have no problem with that either. That "think for yourself" part is huge and necessary for all of us.
As for invoking jebus, well... that's why I boycotted my own graduation. School sanctioned prayer was just sort of accepted at my school. Several others joined me; some chose to simply ignore the call to prayer. Nobody at graduation had to listen to us boo or make a stink.
By
Corvallist, at 8:38 PM
At the exceptionally left-of-DemocraticUnderground.com law school that I attended, I routinely saw booing and disruption to the point of not letting the (non-left) speakers speak, so I know what you're talking about. A graduation should be as neutral as possible. The students probably figured they'd vote for nice Mr. VeganYogaDude to get an uplifting speech along the lines of "be excellent to each other," which served Bill & Ted well and would be a good rule of thumb. Again, why provoke at a celebration? It's at the very least tacky. Or tawdry. Your choice.
I'm not a conservative, so I'm not going to keep pushing this point (In other words, I don't have a dog in this horse race of crumbling cookies, but that's the way the spilt milk bounces).
I love The Corvallist and read her all the time!
By
Anonymous, at 5:43 AM
It is a pity the students didn't get these sorts of speeches at the beginning of their schooling. By introducting them to the thoughts that drive our time (left, right, and center) they might bette understand just how important eduction is.
By
Anonymous, at 4:03 PM
Fantastic speech. If you average everyone's thoughts enough, you get political correctness. If you state your own opinion honestly, you get Rob Cornell's speech. It's amusing that people have such an averse reaction to honesty and thought, whether of the liberal or conservative variety, especially when the alternative is to basically say no thoughts at all during the graduation except for empty euphemisms. - Connelly Barnes
By
Anonymous, at 2:08 PM
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