W.H. Forum on ‘Re-Thinking School Discipline’: Obama Is Like ‘Father-in-Chief’

JARRETT: "Same thing with the group of young men back to Chicago that he met with early, early on. And they all wanted to be basketball players, or musicians. And he said to one the young man, you know, 'You are 5'9'', you are just not going to be LeBron James. It's just not happening. Why don't you think about being a coach, or why you don't think about being a finance person if you are interested in sports and help.' And he was kind of giving them these life coaching moments. And then he invited the young men to the White House several months later for Father's Day and they gave him a Father's Day card, and one of the young man said: 'I’ve never signed the Father's Day Card before.' And the president said, 'I have never signed the Father's Day card.' And you could just see these connections that are -- and all of them were talking about different  careers then the ones that they have talked about when they met with him earlier. So, I think we forget how little it can take to just change a life. A supportive teacher, counselor who takes an interest and aunt who makes up for being a mom that they don't have -- it just -- it doesn't take that much to unleash that potential. So that's why I was curious about them opening up to you because they are just -- they are hungry for love and we have to learn how to --"

AUDIENCE MEMBER: "And they are curious--"

JARRETT: "And they are curious, they are intellectually curious, they are emotionally curious and it's just -- this is untapped potential that we should figure out how to take advantage of.”