For once, I actually agree with Obama:

“Parents if you don’t parent, we can’t improve our schools,” he said. “You’ve got to parent. You’ve got to turn off the television set in your house once in a while, you’ve got to put the video game away once in a while.”

“You should have a curfew in your house so your children aren’t out in the streets all night. You should meet with the teacher and find out what the homework is and help that child with the homework. And if you don’t know how to do the homework, don’t be embarrassed, find someone to help you.”

“Fathers, be fathers,” he added. “Be a part of your child’s life. Be a part of your child’s life and try to make them proud.

“And the last thing is, if your child is misbehaving at school don’t curse out the teacher. You know who you are. It’s not the teacher’s fault that your child is misbehaving. That’s some home training.”

The crowd reacted raucously and Obama laughed. “You know what I say is true, though. Don’t blame the teachers, and the government and the schools if you’re not doing your job.”

There’s not a thing in there that I disagree with.  I think far too many parents abdicate their parental responsibilities, and then complain when the government (and most often the schools) don’t do a good enough job disciplining and educating their children.  This is called personal responsibility, and we cannot expect to remain free and independent citizens if we expect the government to solve all our problems for us.

I will say, though, that I wish Obama would apply this kind of thinking to issues like health care.  If we cannot blame teachers for our children not being disciplined, then we cannot blame the government for not being able to secure health care for ourselves.  Or not being able to afford our mortgages, for that matter.

After all, this personal responsibility stuff cuts both ways.