The State of the Union Address: Math and Science Make a Comeback

During President Obama's State of the Union Address, he made a point to emphasize the importance of children's involvement in math and science. As part of his plan to jumpstart the nation's progression in science and technology, he encouraged young people to pursue careers in education, mentioning that the nation will be needing hundreds of thousands of new educators in the coming years. I think Obama's push for an increase of interest in these fields is a wise one because it will inspire a new wave of technological progression similar to that which was occurring during the space race. Obama spoke about how the United States has lapsed into a period of technological and scientific stagnancy and think there is a fair amount of truth to his statement. The United States is no longer the clear world leader in science and technology and is instead becoming eclipsed by China. This seems like a particularly wise agenda because although the United States seems to have so many resources, it does not appear that its young people have been truly taking advantage of them. In fact, Obama made a point to mention that just recently China-- not the United States-- engineered the world’s fastest and most sophisticated computer. The way that Obama approached this subject was wise. His tone was not scolding, that is, he was not attempting to voice disappointment in the nation and convey a feeling that our current, rather sluggish position is permanent. Instead, he was very encouraging and used various anecdotes and positive language to inspire a new age of change in the coming years. He reminded American citizens of the time during the Space Race to show the benefits the United States was able to reap when the United States had adopted a fiercely intellectually competitive attitude—something that I believe needs to return.