At a special event held at the Rose Garden on Monday, First Lady Melania Trump revealed her new platform: Be Best. The program is set to focus on three main ideas — well-being, combating the growing opioid epidemic, and social media positivity.
“As a mother and as first lady, it concerns me that in today’s fast-paced and ever-connected world, children can be less prepared to express or manage their emotions and oftentimes turn to forms of destructive or addictive behavior such as bullying, drug addiction or even suicide,” Trump said during the event.
“I feel strongly that as adults we can and should be best at educating our children about the importance of a healthy and balanced life,” she continued.
Critics have railed against the First Lady after hearing that one of her initiatives would be to tackle the negativity on social media, seeing as how President Trump uses his Twitter account, almost daily, to go after those that sometimes do not agree with him.
Delivering the ten-minute speech to her husband and America, Trump said, “As we all know, social media can both positively and negatively affect our children. But too often, it is used in negative ways. When children learn positive online behaviors early on, social media can be used in productive ways and can affect positive change.”
Among the audience were tech leaders from around the country. Executives from Google, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon and Microsoft were all in attendance.
Continuing with her speech, Trump said, “It is our responsibility as adults to educate and remind [children] that when they are using their voices — whether verbally or online — they must choose their words wisely and speak with respect and compassion.”
Trump honored Kalani Goldberg, who posted a video on one of her social media accounts expressing her experiences with bullies.
In her video, Goldberg said, “Every day, you are hurting me. Every day, you are hurting each other. So please stop. Stop hurting me.”
Trump thanked the 8th grade Arizonian for her bravery and said, “I am happy to report that since posting her video, many have watched it and most importantly, people have reached out to offer support and kindness.”
In an effort to shine light on her commitment to help children develop emotionally as they build relationship skills, Trump mentioned Christian Bucks, a second grade Pennsylvanian, who conceptualized the idea of the “Buddy Bench.” By sitting on the bench, students are signaling to their peers that they wish to have someone ask them to play with them.
Since taking on the role as First Lady of the United States of America, Trump has faced an extreme amount of criticism and social media backlash for being the wife of Donald Trump.
In the midst of all of this, a new poll from CNN has Melania Trump at a 57 percent approval rating, up ten points since January.
The poll also revealed that the First Lady is up 15 points in favorable feelings from Democrats since January while still remaining unfavorable overall with 40 percent. Trump is also up six points from Republicans since January.
Among women, Trump has risen 13 percentage points. Fifty-four percent of women now favor the First Lady, while only 30 percent view her unfavorably. Among men, Trump has risen 7 percentage points.
@RealKyleMorris is a Yellowhammer News contributor and host of The Weekend Briefing that airs noon-2 p.m. Saturdays on 101.1 WDYE
