NEW YORK - Here's the real problem with the message President Barack Obama delivered to schoolchildren Tuesday: It's bland, neutral and mind-numbingly obvious. You can't even imagine a cogent objection to it.
Of course, that didn't stop GOP firebrands from trying. In the blogosphere, especially, Republicans charged that Mr. Obama's speech would indoctrinate students with his supposedly "socialist" views. Across the country, parents demanded that schools obtain their permission before showing Mr. Obama's speech to their children; others announced that they would simply keep their kids home.
But there was nothing socialist - or even partisan - about Mr. Obama's speech. If you think otherwise, go online and read a copy of the speech or the White House's suggested classroom activities to accompany it. One exercise asks children to make a poster of their goals; another instructs each student to "brainstorm" about what qualities promote personal success. Not a word about Mr. Obama's positions on health care, taxes or anything else.
And that's precisely the problem here. To really learn, our kids need to confront the real dilemmas that grip our country. No one will learn anything new from yet another bromide about hard work and personal responsibility; instead, they'll tune out.
So how about using the rest of this week to teach our children something they don't know?
Consider our ongoing war in Afghanistan, which appears to be losing its support at home. Fewer than half of Americans now say they approve of Mr. Obama's handling of Afghanistan, where he has pledged to increase troop levels. Indeed, 41 percent say they want the troops to start coming home, up from 33 percent in April and 24 percent in February.
Are they right? I don't know. But here's what I do know: Our kids need to be reading, talking and thinking about the answer. Some of them will become soldiers one day, of course, but all of them will become citizens. And they will have to sort these things out for themselves.
What better time than this week? On Friday, just three days after Mr. Obama's school speech, the nation will commemorate the eighth anniversary of the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. The Sept. 11 attacks remain at the heart of America's rationale for fighting in Afghanistan, where al-Qaeda planned and financed them.
