Obama Challenges Students To Work Hard, Put Down The Video Games

President Obama took a break from promoting his new jobs package on Wednesday to offer some words of encouragement to students at a local Washington, D.C. high school.

Speaking to an audience of roughly 500 students and adults gathered inside the gymnasium on the campus of Benjamin Banneker High School, the president urged students to focus in the classroom, even if some of the material being taught seems boring and pointless to them.

“I’ll let you in on a little secret: I wasn’t always the very best student. I didn’t love every class I took,” Obama said. “When I was in eighth grade, I had to take a class called “ethics.” Ethics is about right and wrong, but if you’d have asked me what my favorite subject was in eighth grade, I’d have said “basketball.”

“But you know what? I still remember that ethics class. I remember the way it made me think. I remember being asked questions like “What matters in life?” “What does it mean to treat people with respect and dignity?” “What does it mean to live in a diverse nation?” Each question led to a new one, and I didn’t always know the answer right away. But those discussions and that process of discovery are still with me today.”

The president also challenged the students to think beyond their high school years.

“Our country used to have the world’s highest proportion of young people with a college degree. Now we’re 16th. That’s not good enough. And so we need your generation to bring us back to the top.”

Finally, Obama called on students to respect their teachers and administrators.

“Your teachers are giving up their weekends and waking up at dawn. They’re cramming their days full of classes and extra-curriculars. Then they’re going home, eating some dinner, and staying up past midnight to grade your papers. And they don’t do it for a fancy office or a big salary. They do it for you.”

Today’s back to school address was the third such speech given by Obama in as many years.