Some local school districts have said they will offer parents the option to allow their children to not attend a viewing of President Obama's televised speech to schoolchildren Tuesday.

Have you decided to let your children opt out of Tuesday's speech? Might you?

 What a brilliant idea, I am glad to see a President takng a very active and personal role in the education of our children. Instead of deciding to test them to death with meaningless standardized tests and call it progress. And any parent who chooses to force their children not to watch needs to take their heads out of the sand, Obama is not a scary black man who wants indoctrinate your children with socialist ideals so when the revolution comes he has an army, he is your's, mine and all American's duly elected President. Act like it.

 This is pretty sad when parents don't want their kids to hear a message directly from THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES!!! Come on people, even if you disagree politically, show some respect. 

He is still the leader of the most powerful country in the world and to teaching children that he can be ignored is showing them that any authority can be ignored.  Why should they listen to parents, teachers or police if they don't have to listen to the president?

I don't always agree with the police sometimes too, but if they are talking to me I listen.  I respect the office, I don't have to respect the person.

 Maybe you need to take your head out of your planet. Whether or not we "force" our children to watch his socialist speech, they will still have standardized tests. Yes he is a scary black man, if he were white with the same ideals, he would be a scary white man.  Thank you very much

 Mel...Even on my planet where pretty much anything goes, that gobbledegook you typed makes absolutely no sense. Can you clear it up a little so my brain doesn't leap out my ear from trying to understand what you meant. Or are you just so incensed with our Evil, Treasonist, Socialist, Not even Legal United States Citizen President to coherently think?

I think anyone asking for their child not to listen to the President, should be ashamed.  This is the President of the United States taking time to speak to our children about education.  This speach alone may spark some child to one day aspire to be President.  Republican or Democrat, Obama is our President.  I'm so sick of people saying, "he's not my President."  He is your president just like Bush was our President before him. I wonder, if Sarah Palin or Hillary Clinton were President, would this be an issue then also?

 NO! This amounts to indoctornation, I feel that this very wrong to expose kids young as elementry school to this without there parents being able to clarify the views of this misguided leader. Dont worry folks if it messes up your kids Obama will just write a check to fix that problem also...

 This is supposed to be a message to schoolkids, asking them to stay in school and to work hard while there. It's not a call ro revolution, people! And, sorry as I am to bring it up, judging from the misspellings in the posted comments, perhaps the commentators should have stayed in school longer, themselves.

How is it 'indoctrination?' Do you know what indoctrination is? 

Indoctrination is the process of inculcating ideas, attitudes, cognitive strategies or a professional methodology. It is often distinguished from education by the fact that the indoctrinated person is expected not to question or critically examine the doctrine they have learned. As such it is used pejoratively. Instruction in the basic principles of science, in particular, can not properly be called indoctrination, in the sense that the fundamental principles of science call for critical self-evaluation and sceptical scrutiny of one's own ideas.

For all that I have seen, the students are encouraged to critically examine the President's speech. 

Aubrey, perhaps you should read Pres. Obama's speech. It is not indoctrination. . . what a strange word to use in regard this situation. Did you use a thesaurus? How completely un-American and treasonous to even suggest that a U.S. President, LEGALLY voted in via our democratic system would have any but a positive message for our children. Shame on you. And God Bless America.

I will absolutely support my children hearing and seeing this speech. I'm so proud of our President. Did the former president do anything this generous or notable to the younger generation? Would he have been able to articulate such a positively motivating speech? (Yes, I have read it.) If my children's schools chose not to air this speech, I would be taking them out of school to come home and see it.

How completely un-American, un-Patriotic of those who are against this. They rail against "government". Do they not realize they are the thoughtless sheep following a desperate political party? SOCIALISM? What the heck do the think the post office, social security, public schooling is? Hello!? The Blue Ridge Parkway, the Radford Arsenal, the murals in the Radford and Christiansburg post office were results of the WPA. Yeah, look it up. Or you could just vomit the BS Rush Limbaugh and the other flunkies of the RNC pour into the funnel stuck in your head.

 My child is only three, but I would most definitely allow him to listen to President Obama's speech. Yes, I voted for Obama and would do it again, but I would allow my son to watch even if I hadn't. The President of our country is giving a speech to the children of this nation about how important it is to stay in school for crying out loud!! Why would any parent now allow that? I don't care who you voted for, it's important for children to understand how and why education is important. To have an important figure give such a speech is a positive thing that the children will take seriously and remember for the rest of their lives. We can say it all day to them, but when someone of that stature shares that message, I guarantee they're going to listen and that's what we want. It is completely ridiculous what Jim Greer stated -- I highly doubt Obama is going to throw anything political into a speech that he is giving to an audience that wouldn't understand that aspect of what's going on in our country right now. School children (with the exception of SOME high schoolers, I suppose) wouldn't comprehend the political talk and that's clearly NOT his focus. Greer and anyone like him should take another look at the positive subject of our President's speech and back off. Maybe he should let Obama talk before he runs his mouth about what he may or may not say. Socialist agenda? Are you kidding me? Grow up.

Side note: (In reference to the things being said lately, debt has been and will always be a part of our life. Sorry. It doesn't matter who is President; it will still happen. Also, we do still have the rights and freedoms we've had for so long, so people should stop complaining. And the things that the government IS gaining control over weren't working out with us in control anyway.)

Thanks! Have a nice day!