A big deal?

To follow up on class discussion on whether or not it is right for President Obama to make his speech to the school children tomorrow. Today I found an interesting article with Laura Bush(click link for article) backing the President and his choice to make the speech to the countries school children. She states that he has the right to talk to the children and that it is important for everyone to respect the President of the United States. I agree with her and her views that we are divided between the left and right and are blind of the viewpoints of the other side, no matter what they are. In our democratic process we have elected our leader of the nation, and we as a nation should have respect for our leader. If our President wants to talk to our school children he has the right too and as a country we should be open minded. Of course you have the right to not send your kid, however it seems to be ridiculous. President Obama is talking to kids about staying in school and there responsibilities as students, is that not something you would like your kids to hear? Even if you do not have respect for our President, is it not a good thing to teach your children to respect and look up to our leader, even if his viewpoints are different than yours? In a democratic country we have elected a man, who as our leader has decided to talk to the next generation of our country, and it is shocking that people are getting so upset about this speech. Obama is not trying to control the country and if he was it wouldnt be a bad thing, is it awful that hes telling kids to stay in school and be the best student and most succesful person they can be? If not then why is our country so upset about this speech?