Hello All,
We have a bunch of parents here, and a bunch of people on every side of the political spectrum- I'd like you all's input.

Apparently the President is coming to Cincinnati next week, to a large city park. One of our friends (he/she posts a lot of political stuff on her/his facebook page - yes, I'm obscuring his/her gender becuase its not important.)...
...anyway, One of our friends is looking for places to park so she/he can bring his/her children to see the president - which I'm pretty sure will be during school hours that day.

This means that she/he is going to either just keep them home(unexcused absence) or lie and call them in sick (neither of these are the end of the world...) but they wont be in classes for at least half of the school day, if not the whole day. I care not to judge this parents ethics and methods. I do care what it means to miss a day of school.

The children are between the ages of 10 and 7 (I forget exactly).

Is seeing the president important enough to miss a day of school ? or am I not seeing the gravity of what is at hand ?

-John

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It it can be cleared with the school, then I say that it is definitely worth it. It will be a memorable civics lesson for the kids. It would be better if it could happen outside of the political campaign season, but anytime a kid can see the President of the United States in person, that's a special day. IMHO.

Lying to get the kids out of school would probably be an even more memorable lesson. The lesson in lying is one they can do without.

that's really up to the parent. Would I keep my kids out to see Obama?? Hell, no...besides, they don't like him anyway. However, if it were a different POTUS that we agree with and he was coming to town, I probably would.

But, my kids are teenagers now...

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I cannot think of any president aside from Carter that I would make any effort to go see much less pull kids out of school to see.

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Not important enough IMHO! I got out of school when in high school to go see LBJ and Goldwater both, but I must admit, it was nothing more than a chance to ditch school. For an elementary school kid? Forget it.

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Annoy a Liberal, Read the Constitution

Hopefully he/she just wants the kids to get a glimpse of a falling star before it crashes and burns. Sounds like a textbook lib- it's all about the cult of personality. I could justify an unexcused absence if the president was coming to my kids school for an in person indoctrination, otherwise no way.

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Absolutely! Kids learn by example, lying is not exactly a good example.

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Annoy a Liberal, Read the Constitution

I'd do it.

I might even have done it for the doofus GWB.

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Well no harm will be done really by the kids loss of the small amount of school time. It may be an experience to remember for them. Certainly more than the insignifigant amount of school time lost. Seeing someone first hand in person is different usually. No need to lie to the school either.

Ask them if they want to go. Some of our older members who bypassed the chance to see Jefferson in person as children might now regret having done so.

I'd arrange with the school as I consider it an educational experience. I don't like the guy, but he is OUR president. And then maybe afterward it would be a good time for a discussion with them about our constitutional form of government. Very teachable day. I work in Cincy, but fortunately for me, I will be out of town on Monday. Traffic will be baaad.

LOL

Exactly. The lesson would be even better if the parents are of the opposite political persuasion from the President.

What an opportunity to see the POTUS up close! It is a civic lesson whether you like or agree with him or not. I spent $2K+ to send my kids to visit Washington DC when they were in middle school. That was part of the school arranged visit. Advise the school for the planned absence.

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He's a putz but if he was coming to Hartford; perhaps using it as a shining example of what a single-party, deficit spending utopia looks like ; I'd bring the kids. It's still a pretty big deal when the Prez comes to town, agree with him or not.

Considering the number of parents who take their kids out of school in order to extend their vacations, which just annoys the hell out of me even though it's none of my business, I don't have an issue with it.

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Take your kid to see the president. Doesn't matter the party or the era of gov politics. The president is the head of state for this country.

Honor him in that capacity even if you intend to vote for somebody else. Anybody else. Please.