Has the country become so divided and politically polarized that a speech from a president encouraging students to stay in school and work hard is considered "brainwashing" and "political indoctrination"?

If this is "brainwashing," let's have more of it.

However, we don't think President Obama telling students to go to class, pay attention and work hard is "brainwashing."

We hope schools that didn't show the speech to students during class based their decisions on sound educational reasons and weren't just taking the easy way out because of a few outspoken critics.

We echo the words of Laura Bush who said, "There is a place for the president of the United States to talk to school children" and also, "It's really important for everyone to respect the president of the United States."

The former first lady also supported the right of parents to exclude their children from hearing the speech. We just hope they didn't send their children the wrong message.

As Obama was talking about the importance of not quitting when the going gets tough, these parents were, essentially, letting them "quit" a portion of their education.

Just the fact that Obama is taking time to give such a speech directed at students sends the message to them that they are important and school is important.

"We need every single one of you to develop your talents, skills and intellect so you can help solve our most difficult problems. If you don't do that - if you quit on school - you're not just quitting on yourself, you're quitting on your country," Obama said.

After relating how he has previously talked about the responsibilities of teachers, parents and government, he said, "we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities."

He related stories with which children can identify, not only his own upbringing without a father around but also examples such as J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" being rejected a dozen times before being published and Michael Jordan being cut from his high school basketball team.

"But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life - what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you've got going on at home - that's no excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude. That's no excuse for talking back to your teacher or cutting class or dropping out of school."

We hope those who fear Obama's speech will "brainwash" people are right - the United States needs to reduce its dropout rate, for the sake of the country and for those left behind because an inadequate education.