TOW #17

                On January 20^th, 2009, President Barack Obama was sworn into office as the president of the United States. Following his inauguration, he addressed the public with a moving speech about how the nation must work together in order to solve the plethora of issues it faced at the time. Throughout his time in office, Obama diligently worked to push past barriers and create the optimal environment for a nation of diverse citizens to prosper in. He made strides in lowering the price of health care, increasing minimum wage, legalizing gay marriage, and decreasing the unemployment rate as well as many other important actions. Some things he worked hard for yet did not change very much or still require effort to improve for a multitude of reasons. In his speech, Obama said, “Our health care is too costly, our schools fail too many, and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.” (Obama). The president made a valid remark about the American School System that continues to hold true today despite his valiant efforts to resolve its problems. The schools in America continue to fail far too many of its students because of the rigid nature of its schedule and curriculum. Children in school are forced to make up their minds about the careers they wish to pursue past graduation but are then denied the supplements that are vital to achieving their goals. For example, say a student loves art and is very bad at their other subjects. A gifted student will still be required to take their core classes even if they are failing because they are trying to focus on the classes that truly matter to them and will actually help them reach their full potential as an artist. Such a situation would hold a student back from getting into a good college as a result of their poor grades and thus inhibit that student from receiving a good art education. This is just one hypothetical example in the midst of millions of real stories of how the school system has continually failed the students of America and led to an overall increase in stress levels and anxiety amongst students. Obama uses this argument as an example in a larger, inductive reasoning in which he uses examples like the failing school system and the high prices of health insurance to conclude that America was going through a troubling period in its history. Valid examples such as this aided his argument immensely and proved how true his point really was.