Reaction to Obama speech over the top

We know it's probably too much to hope for, but we'll say it anyway. Take a breath, America. Enjoy the holiday and when Tuesday comes around, maybe we won't be so worked up over the president speaking directly to the country's schoolchildren.

If you haven't heard, President Obama will speak live on the White House Web site and on C-SPAN from a Virginia high school in an effort to "challenge students to work hard, stay in school and dramatically reduce the dropout rate," according to an administration spokesman.

But Obama's critics see something sinister. We think the language they are using, however, is over the top.

Indoctrination. Cult of personality. Invasive abuse of power. Comparisons to North Korea, Saddam Hussein, Chairman Mao.

This is not the first time a president has talked directly to schoolchildren. George H.W. Bush did it. Ronald Reagan did it. And, yes, there were critics then too. Those critics were wrong then too.

We feel for our suburban schools, caught in the middle. In most cases, they are walking a fine line by allowing teachers and principals to decide how and when to show the speech and to allow parents to opt out. While we think that's the right approach - we have favored an opt-out provision in other instances - we question why this speech is so controversial as to need an opt-out approach.

And we don't agree with Cary Elementary District 26. That district is forbidding teachers from showing the webcast.

"The district's philosophy is to present controversial subjects in a fair and impartial way," Curriculum Director Mary Dudek wrote.

We fail to see how encouraging students to study hard and stay in school is a Democrat or Republican issue. We fail to see how it is controversial. We are thankful for school officials like Ken Arndt, superintendent of Carpentersville-based Community Unit District 300, who said he doesn't understand all the fuss.

"Only in America would the president of the United States' address to schoolchildren cause any controversy," Arndt said. "It's unfortunate that everything in America has to be adversarial."

Indeed it is. The partisan divide has never seemed wider than it does today. It's incumbent on all of us to find ways to come together, to not keep pushing each other apart.

Back to the deep breath. You have a right to disagree with the president and his ideas. You have a right to watch out for your children and to shield them from harm.

But we all need to learn to pick our battles. This shouldn't be one of them. We strongly agree with the sentiments of this local superintendent:

"We elected the man to be our president and he wants to give what I'm pretty sure is a pep talk to students," said Ed Leman, superintendent of West Chicago Elementary District 33. "I don't see why there would be an objection."