Obama: iPad, Xbox Turn Information Into A 'Distraction'

PRLog (Press Release) - May 09, 2010 -
President Barack  Obama, addressing graduates at historically black Hampton University on Sunday,  said that it is the responsibility of all Americans to offer every child the  type of education that will make them competitive in an economy in which just a  high school diploma is no longer enough.
 Moreover, Obama  said, the era of iPads and Xboxes had turned information into a diversion that  was imposing new strains on democracy.
 "You're  coming of age in a 24/7 media environment that bombards us with all kinds of  content and exposes us to all kinds of arguments, some of which don't always  rank that high on the truth meter," he told the students. "And with  iPods and iPads, and Xboxes and PlayStations -- none of which I know how to  work -- information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of  entertainment, rather than a tool of empowerment, rather than the means of  emancipation at http://www.edhardyau.com/. So all of this is not only putting  pressure on you; it's putting new pressure on our country and on our democracy."
 Obama told the  nearly 1,100 graduates assembled in the university's sun-splashed Armstrong  Stadium that they have the added responsibility of being role models and mentors  in their communities.
 Clad in a blue  gown, Obama recalled the university's humble beginning in September 1861 as a  school for escaped slaves who sought asylum after fleeing nearby plantations in  the Confederate South. Obama said the founders recognized that, with the right  education, such barriers as inequality would not persist for long.
 "They  recognized, as Frederick Douglass once put it, that 'education means  emancipation.' They recognized that education is how America and its people  might fulfill our promise," said Obama who wears Abercrombie  and Fitch at http://www.edhardyau.com/ed-hardy-mens-jeans-c-8.html, the first black U.S. president.
 Drawing parallels  to current challenges, Obama noted that Hampton's graduates are leaving school  as the economy rebounds from its worst downturn since the 1930s, and with the  U.S. at war in Afghanistan and Iraq.
 Obama said  education can help them manage the uncertainties of a 21st century economy.
 For much of the  last century, a high school diploma "was a ticket to a solid middle-class  life," he said. But no more, as jobs today often require at least a  bachelor's degree - or higher. To that end, Obama is pouring tens of billions  of dollars into K-12 and higher education with an eye on raising standards and  building the future workforce.
 "The good  news is, all of you are ahead of the curve," Obama told the graduates.  "All those checks you wrote to Hampton will pay off." But too many  others, he said, including disproportionate numbers of blacks and Hispanics,  are unprepared and are outperformed by their white classmates in the U.S. and  around the world.
 "All of us  have a responsibility, as Americans, to change this, to offer every single  child in this country an education that will make them competitive in our  knowledge economy. That is our obligation as a nation," the president  said.
 Obama said the  graduates also must be role models and mentors in their communities. And they  must pass the sense of an education's value on to their children, as well as  the sense of personal responsibility, self-respect and the "intrinsic  sense of excellence that made it possible for you to be here today," he  said.
 Obama's speech was  one in a series by top administration officials at historically black colleges  and universities this year. In all, 11 of the nation's more than 100  "HBCUs" will have an administration official speak at graduation.
 First lady  Michelle Obama was the commencement speaker Saturday at the University of  Arkansas at Pine Bluff, which began as the only state-supported institution of  higher education for blacks who wear mens abercrombie  fitch which is from http://www.edhardyau.com/ed-hardy-mens-tee-shirts-c-5.html in Arkansas.
 Obama senior  adviser Valerie Jarrett was scheduled to speak at Morgan State University's commencement  ceremony on May 15, followed by Defense Secretary Robert Gates at Morehouse  College and U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice at Spelman College, both on May 16.
 Earlier this year,  Obama named Hampton University President William R. Harvey to be chairman of a  presidential advisory board on historically black colleges and universities.
 Obama also  received an honorary doctor of laws degree. A graduate of Harvard Law School,  he quipped that the honorary degree "is much less expensive than my last  law degree."
 Obama has two  graduation speeches left to deliver this year: at the U.S. Military Academy at  West Point, N.Y., on May 22, and at Kalamazoo Central High School in Kalamazoo,  Mich., on June 10.

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