[FWB]

well my eight year old came home with an opt out letter on friday, it had to be in by this morning signed to not have to watch the speech. it wasn't a school form per-se it was a form from the dept of education. you had to list the school name, my name, the students name, and of course signature required. i thought about the different ramifications of : 1. watching the speech and having my child politicized or
2. having my child singled out (amongst others too) as being
anti obama
my solution was to have a little civics class of my own on saturday, where we went over a watered down version of the constitution and the role of the congress and the executive branch, i touched on key words to be sceptical of when they would refer to obama and other government officials. she was very attentive and interested in this for an eight year old. i also signed the letter and told her it was up to her to watch it or not, if all your friends are watching it keep the letter in your bag and go along. if your friends are all opting out, wip out the letter and use it. she ended up watching the speech because only two students in her class got up with a letter so she stayed seated. this afternoon when she got home she told me it was a total bore and she hates obama. so mission accomplished without causing any collateral damage.

Fred