In the end, it was largely much ado about nothing.

Even conservative pundit and former congressman Newt Gingrich, after reading an advance copy, urged parents and children in a television interview to watch President Barack Obama’s speech exhorting students to stay in school and work hard.

But the reaction was still mixed.

A handful of protestors picketed Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia, where Obama gave his speech, holding signs that read: “Mr. President, Stay Away From Our Kids” and “Children Serve God, Not Obama.”

Some school districts refused to show the address, while others allowed parents to opt out. The White House posted the text 24 hours in advance on its Web site in an effort to alleviate concerns about the tone and tenor of the president’s remarks.

In his speech, which aired on C-SPAN and the White House Web site, Obama used examples from his own life to urge students to study hard. He told them to stop chasing dreams of being athletes or reality TV stars.

"The truth is, being successful is hard. You won't love every subject you study. You won't click with every teacher. Not every homework assignment will seem completely relevant to your life right this minute. And you won't necessarily succeed at everything the first time you try," Obama said.

In Claremont, North Carolina, Chris Gibbs, principal of Claremont Elementary School, decided against having his pupils watch the speech online or on C-SPAN, deferring to parents who said they feared Obama was trying to impose his political views on their children.

“This may sound a little strange, but after a flurry of phone calls, my impulse was to go into my office, shut the door and pray,” Gibbs told CNN, before deciding not to air the speech. “I’m not going to sit here and deny the political climate here is high,” he said later.

Gibbs, who is African-American, presides over a school in Catawba County, which gave 67 percent of its votes to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in the 2008 presidential election. CNN noted that many of the schools that opposed showing the speech were in areas where Obama did not do well in November.

“I wonder how many of these schools would be willing to give up their Title I money since they don't want to hear what the president of the United States has to say about the importance of education?” Jocelyn Faniel-Heard of Detroit said, referring to federal money given to schools to assist disadvantaged children. “Probably none of them. Hypocrites.”

Twelve-year-old Mileena Rodriguez listened to Obama's plea to study hard and stay in school Tuesday, watching along with several of her classmates at Philadelphia's Thurgood Marshall Elementary School and students across the country. For all the hubbub among adults over the back-to-school speech, many youngsters took the president's message to heart.

"He said that we're the future, and he's right," said Mileena, who wants to be a forensic scientist. "That's a president telling you, 'I care about you getting your education.' Just imagine what kids like us can do if we actually listen."

All schools in the 163,000-student Philadelphia district were encouraged to show the speech, which coincided with the first day of school.

“I have never seen anything wrong with the president speaking to the students. I wish more presidents had done that,” Sidmel Estes-Sumpter, a media consultant and career coach in the Atlanta area, told BlackAmericaWeb.com. “The president knows he is a role model for these children, so he must set the example. The only reason this even became an issue is that the president’s opponents are still trying to portray him as the boogey man who is trying to do .....

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