Teaching Kids About the Presidential Election
by Early in the presidential primary season, when the field was still wide open, my nine-year-old son overheard me listening to a talk radio program discussing the various candidates. We had discussed the general set-up of a primary, but at this point, we hadn’t gone into great depth over the individual candidates.
But my boy wanted to know more.
“Tell me something about each of the guys running,” he said. (Never under-estimate the ability of a child to keep you on your toes.)
“They aren’t just guys,” I said, explaining to him about Hillary. I then went through each of the candidates of both parties, trying to tell him a little fact I thought he’d especially find interesting.
“Mitt Romney used to be in charge of the Olympics,” I said.
“Cool!” was his response. “It would be great to have a president who’s an athlete!” I let that one slide.
“Rudy Giuliani was mayor of New York City,” I went on.
"Rudy Giuliani? That sounds like another girl name,” he said.
We continued through the list, and when I was finished, my son wanted to know who I was voting for. I told him I’d vote Republican, but I was still undecided which one.
“I think you should vote for the guy who was the soldier. He sounds very brave,” Stephen offered. I told him I was considering it.
It was the first of many discussions our family has had this political season. This is the first presidential election in which I’ve had kids old enough to understand what is going on. The political junkie in me is having a ball sharing the experience with my children, teaching them about the mechanics of an election.
But I’m also seeing presidential politics in a different light—through my kids’ eyes. The dirtiness of modern American politics looks even dirtier when you try to put it in terms a child can understand. More than once, we’ve simply turned the pundit-filled radio or TV off when the kids come in to the room.
These are a few of the guiding principles I’m following in talking with my kids this political season:
Involve them at every level. We’re discussing the whole process openly. The kids have watched bits of significant speeches from numerous candidates. We’ll take them with us to vote, and we’ll even try to get them to watch a few election returns with us (though I’m fully aware it will help if I bribe them with cheese dip). It’s interesting and refreshing to ask our kids on feedback about different issues and candidates, even though they know Mom and Dad are the ultimate decision-makers. Kids Voting USA has some excellent resources for parents, as does Kids Turn Central.
Consider what they’re hearing at school. Kids talk about what they hear adults say. They just do. And sometimes they don’t get their stories straight. As with all important topics, I want to be sure my kids learn the important lessons from my husband and me--not on the playground. The Barack Obama/Jeremiah Wright story is a good example: I suspected this might be discussed at school, so I pre-emptively explained in simple, non-inflammatory terms what was going on.
Treat the other side fairly. Speaking respectfully of others is a priority in our home, and a presidential election doesn’t offer an exemption. We are frank with our children about what we believe—and why—and they know who we're supporting (incidentally, we decided on the "brave soldier" after all). But we would never bash the people for whom we do not vote. Our own family has people at every conceivable spot on the political spectrum, and we’ve used that fact to explain to our kids that good people can disagree about politics, and still like each other!
With months to go in the election, I suspect there are many “teachable moments” ahead. We’ll have many chances to teach our kids about democracy, courage, courtesy, hard work and respect. I can hardly wait.
Related blog posts, articles and resources:
Teaching Children About Politics, by Steph Hicks at HubPages
Kids and Politics, by Robin's Blue Skies
Kids Love Campaign 2008, by MSNBC
Kids and Politics, in the First-In-the-Nation Primary, by UncharterdParent
Parents are Party-Training Kids, by CNN
Kids and Politics, by Simple Chaos
Shannon Lowe is a Mommy/Family contributing editor at BlogHer, and she also writes at Rocks In My Dryer.
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Comments
YOU GIVE ME HOPE!
Except for that voting republican thing. :)
I also have a 9 year old, and i applaud every word in your post - it's what my house looks like these days. ESPECIALLY the part about treating the other side with respect.
The other thing that has been interesting with Celia and I has been the chance for her to figure out what matters to her. Not always the same as what matters to me, but that's okay. But we've had great discussions about finding and following your values. In fact, I've realized that some of mine are different than I thought, after having the chance to really explain things to her, and therefore think through them with her.
But individual values set aside, this election is so important, for reasons far bigger than who wins or loses. My daughter - and all other kids roughly her age - are having their very first real exposure to a presidential election. And they are seeing a black man and a woman run for president. In their world, this will ALWAYS have been possible. In the minds of a generation of young kids - the ones who will one day run our country - this election has already been a winner, regardless of who wins. I tear up when I think about that.
___________
Alyssa Royse
JUST CAUSE
make some good news!
www.JustCauseIt.com
Start Her Up: A blog for Women Entrepreneurs
Definitely!
I think the respect thing is huge. If we have problems with the current tone of American politics (and I think people on both sides of the issues do!), then let's raise our next generation to be a little kinder and gentler!
Shannon @ Rocks In My Dryer
BlogHer Contributing Editor, Mommy and Family
I tried to explain voting to my kids
It was ugly
Politics & News Contributing Editor
Queen of Spain
Beware The Purple People Eaters
That was hysterical! And reminded me of a blog post i wrote (years ago) about The Purple People Eaters. What happened to remembering that deep down, we all want the same things! We got too distracted by taking sides that we forgot that most of us spend most of our time on the common ground in the middle. Years later, i still love this post.
___________
Alyssa Royse
JUST CAUSE
Start Her Up: A blog for Women Entrepreneurs
I love it!
Erin, that video is a classic!
Shannon @ Rocks In My Dryer
BlogHer Contributing Editor, Mommy and Family
Great idea!
When George H W Bush was running in 1988, I remember pulling the lever for him in a mock election booth at a children's museum. It thrilled me when he won...as if I had something to do with it or even knew what he stood for (I was 5). When I was 13 and President Clinton was up for re-election, I stayed up late listening to the returns on my radio. I was interested because Bob Dole was from Kansas, my home state. Then for Bush's first election, I was taking government in high school and we had to do a detailed project on the whole process. These memories of past elections are what got me hooked on politics!
Great Job, Shannon!
I love the way that you have explained this. My kids ask questions and I somehow don't always answer the way that I want. And I love the 'with respect' aspect because my husband is ultra-conservative, my parents are ultra-liberal, and I fall somewhere in between so issues can become pretty heated if we let them. Thanks for the tips!
Annoyed eight-year-old
PunditGirl is so pissed that she's not allowed to vote yet! ;)
PunditMom, http://punditmom1.blogspot.com
Contributing editor, Politics & News
I have a ten year old
I have a ten year old annoyed at the same thing! Then I told him about income taxes, and he was no longer quite as interested in participating...!
Shannon @ Rocks In My Dryer
BlogHer Contributing Editor, Mommy and Family
Explaining it to the kids
I have watched a few of the Democratic debates this spring with my 5th grader and high school senior, explaining and interpreting when necessary and with as open a mind as possible. The oldest looks forward to voting for the first time this fall. The youngest is fortunate that she learned the voting process at school where child "candidates" gave speeches pretending to be the real candidates and a mock primary was held complete with mock voting booths (Obama won).
After the 2006 congressional elections, I blogged about the respect issue as well as teaching kids to understand the "politics" of politics, looking beyond what is said on the surface to what is the whole story, http://moonbridgeblog.blogspot.com/2006/11/politics-and-children.html . The best thing we can do for our kids to teach them to think for themselves is to try to explain all candidates' viewpoints in as balanced and respectful a manner as possible and to teach them not to believe everything they hear!
Linda http://www.moonbridgebooks.com http://moonbridgeblog.blogspot.com
Good post, good points...
...especially about encouraing our kids to think for themselves.
My kids had a mock election at their school too, though they didn't use candidate names. Instead they called them "Elephant" and "Donkey", for the symbols of each party. In our school, the elephants won! ;)
Shannon @ Rocks In My Dryer
BlogHer Contributing Editor, Mommy and Family
Great post.
During the last elections, we lived in Mississippi. They have a thing where you can come and vote at the courthouse, and then let your kids vote as well. they get to go through the whole process, including punchingt he card. They count those seperately, and post the winner after the election is over.
They talk to them about the civil responsilbility of voting, to the point of handing out booklets with each candidates stands, et al before hand to study. They explained the process, and what to think about in making a decision.
They walk out with "I voted today" stickers.
Our kids were around 12 and 10 at the time and took the whole process to heart. Their dad is not as passionate or vocal about politics as, well, other parents in the house. Ahem.
But, they are learning alot and curious. We've had tons of discusions this election year, and I've been careful to listen to their choices without trying to assert my opinions over them. We discuss and I'm amazed to hear their thought processes on the whole thing.
Frankly, these are easier discussions to have than we had to have with the whole Clinton/Lewinsky fiasco. Those were explanations I didn't want to have, well. so. young. Sigh.
18 yr old
My son turned 18 a few months ago and has surprised me with his involvement. We talk about issues and he knows what is important to me. I won't tell him who I support because I want him to decide for himself--I don't want him voting for or against a candidate because of me (he is still a teenager).
One evening my son was in the basement, I thought playing video games. My husband and I were watching TV (probably a Law and Order rerun) and scanning other channels during the commercials. Just as we landed on a presidential debate, ready to go back to Law and Order, my son walked through the room and said "I see your watching the debate, too." Boy did we feel like fools! Proud of our son fools.
Politics and Kids
I loved your post, and I think you're handling the subject with just the right amount of detail and tact. I'll never forget going to dinner with my two nieces, then 12 and 14 at the time. They were trading insults at the table - "You're ugly;" "Well your breath stinks," and so on, escalating to the final coup de grace of horror: "Well, you're a Democrat." (Clearly, my sister had not done such a great job of presenting a balanced picture of the two parties).
I definitely want my kids to feel a part of the process, and to know how important the process is. And if I can convey early enough that even a single voice can make a political difference, than I'll feel like the job has been done.