With Obama having already stated his intention to create a mandatory youth service corps, his pending address to grade school students next week gives me pause for concern.

Most of the questions at the link above are perfectly innocuous, an exception being “Why is it important that we listen to the President and other elected officials, like the mayor, senators, members of congress, or the governor? Why is what they say important?” Aren’t our officials elected to listen to us? Don’t they serve at our discretion, not the other way around?

And then there’s “Students can record important parts of the speech where the President is asking them to do something. Students might think about: What specific job is he asking me to do? Is he asking anything of anyone else? Teachers? Principals? Parents? The American people?” What do you want to ask of our children, Mr. President, especially in the absence of their parents?

My fear is that Obama has something like this in mind, minus the happy ending.