Students Laugh When Obama Says They Inspire Him

At Shaker Heights High School in tony Shaker Heights, Ohio, President Obama got laughs when he wasn't supposed to. Speaking to students, Obama told them that they inspire him. This prompted tittering from the high-schoolers.
"I want you to know you're the reason that I ran for this office in the first place. You remind me what we are still fighting for," Obama said to barely tepid cheers.
"You inspire me," Obama said to an audience that laughed at him.
Only a few short years ago young people adored Obama. They seemed to hang on his every word. Now they chuckle.
Where did things go wrong and why did these students at a high school in an upscale community laugh when the president said they inspire him?
Having worked with young people for many years, I can tell you this: They have a built-in phony antenna. They know when something or someone doesn't ring true; when how someone acts or what someone say is inauthentic; when it's just not real. They can tell. They know when someone's trying to jive them.
Three years ago Obama seemed authentic. He seemed to them like the real deal. That's gone now.
And they're so sophisticated that when this happens they simply laugh it off -- because it happens so frequently and they see it so much. They live in an age of irony, a time when there's always a whiff of phoniness in the air. And it breeds cynicism.
So, it doesn't really matter so much that it's the president speaking. When someone speaks to them, they size up the speaker and the situation very quickly. And when things don't ring true, they know it.
They don't believe that Obama really sought to be president because of them nor do they believe that they actually inspire him. Why? Because they don't believe that he even knows or understands them. On top of the fact that it doesn't seem plausible, the whole notion that someone like the president might try to convince them that they inspire him makes them uncomfortable. He's supposed to be the leader. He's supposed to inspire THEM; not the other way around. They want to look up to him but in this situation they can't. It's downright awkward. So, they laugh. They laugh because they don't know what else to do.
Some of them are thinking: ME inspiring the president? C'mon, dude!
It's too much of stretch for them.
Now, if they performed well (or improved substantially) for someone who built a relationship with them over time -- someone who they came to like and/or trust -- he or she might be able to say at the end of a year that the students inspired him or her.
And it could indeed be credible.
It might go something like this: "This has been a great year; tough at times, but fun, too. And I learned from you just like you learned from me. And the progress that you've made has encouraged me and actually inspired me and made me want to continue to help you and others like you. So yes, you inspire me."
That might work.
But the President of the United States? NOT!