Obama's message to students: Work hard in school; careful on Facebook

President Obama called upon America's schoolchildren Tuesday to get serious, work hard and, above all, to not "give up on yourself" - a straightforward back-to-school pep talk that followed a week of growing controversy.

Some area schools broadcast the 11 a.m. speech live, while other districts opted to tape it for later viewing in the classroom.

But in Wheaton, about 45 high school students - some wearing T-shirts with "I am opposed to censorship" emblazoned over an American flag - left school Tuesday so they could watch the President's speech live at a golf course clubhouse.

"This is about being an American," said Ken Notter, 16, a junior from Wheaton Warrenville South who rallied students through Facebook to the event.

Still, at Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, only 13 of 1,000 students who had free time during Obama's speech elected to watch it on a theater-sized screen in the fine arts center.

"I think it was good, positive," said junior Jackie Edelson, who figured most of her peers just didn't want to miss lunch.

The back-to-school address sparked a nationwide controversy, as several conservative organizations and many concerned parents warned Obama was trying to sell his political agenda. That concern was caused in part by an accompanying administration lesson plan encouraging students to "help the president," which the White House later revised.

Locally, nowhere was the uproar greater than in Wheaton Warrenville District 200.

District 200 was among several suburban school districts that decided not to broadcast the president's message live, but to tape it for later showing in the classroom.

In a recorded message sent to parents' phones last week, Robert Rammer, the district's director of communications, said the speech would not be shown live.

"We will record the broadcast and determine if and under what curricular circumstances it would be appropriate to share with students," the message said.

Some parents, students and teachers responded with letters of outrage to what they interpreted as "screening" of the President's speech. On Monday night, a second message from Superintendent Richard Drury - characterized as a clarification - said the message would be taped and shown in individual classrooms on Wednesday. "At no time was it the intent of the district to censor or disrespect the president or his message," Drury told parents.

Streaming the message throughout the district would cripple the computer system and voice mail, Rammer said. The district blocked the White House Web site, whitehouse.gov, in all schools for the duration of the President's address.

For parents who accompanied their children to the Arrowhead Golf Course Tuesday, the plan to show the speech in school on Wednesday was not good enough.

"I wanted my kids to experience the community that goes with watching the president's speech as it was intended to be given," said Kirk Moore of Warrenville, parent of a high school junior and a middle schooler.

Elgin Area School District U-46 left the decision to show the speech live to its 53 principals, though parents could ask to have their children excused.

At Bartlett Elementary School, eight classes of fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders watched in the gym, cheering as Obama was introduced. Later, though, some of the students admitted it was "kind of boring."

Fifth-grade teacher Carla Henderson said none of the parents of her 28 students had requested to opt out of the speech.

Obama's message of personal responsibility and the stories he told about underprivileged students seemed to resonate with some students at Dundee-Crown High School in Carpentersville.

"I liked the speech. It speaks to me," said Jonathan Duttine, an East Dundee student who grew up on Chicago's South Side. "You've got to believe in yourself."

• Staff writers Kerry Lester, Jameel Naqvi and Bob Susnjara and Daily Herald wire services contributed to this report.

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Video</h2> <ul class="video"> <li><a href="http://video.ap.org/?t=By%20Section/U.S.&g=0908dv_pol_obama_schools&f=ILARL">Obama Challenges Nation's Students to Work Hard </a></li> </ul> <h2>Related links</h2> <ul class="moreWeb"> <li><a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/mediaresources/">Information on Obama's speech</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/MediaResources/PreparedSchoolRemarks/">Full text of Obama's speech</a></li> </ul> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=319557">Laura Bush backs Obama on school speech <span class="date">[9/8/09]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>