It's important, right?
In no time, they'll be bestowed the civil duty of casting their vote and in the age of voter decline, we need to teach them that their voice matters.
This can become a pretty sticky situation if you choose to impart only your beliefs on your children (age appropriately of course) rather than talk to them about important issues, teach them how to educate themselves, and let them make their own decisions.
This is probably one of the most (and some times least) effective ways of parenting for me.
By raising independent thinkers, I'm setting myself up.
I have one child who supports Donald Trump. We've had several conversations about it and it's been a series of comical errors.
I do not support Donald Trump. This makes our conversations very challenging because I want to shut him down and tell him that Donald is a blithering idiot, but I don't.
Instead, I ask him questions.
"What do you like about him?"
"What does he believe that you believe?"
"How is he going to make the country better for you?"
As he answers, we discuss. I try very hard to keep an open mind, because I want him to learn to be open minded. When he comes out with things such as, "He speaks his mind," I often counter with questions such as, "What specifically did he speak his mind about?" Questions like these make him think. They make him actually listen to what is being said, analyze it, and make a decision.
Yay, critical thinking!
Our conversations started out with things such as, "Well, he's rich, and he's famous."
They have evolved into, "Did you hear what he said about *insert random thing here*?"
Then we talk about the other candidates. We talk about Hillary Clinton, her stance on the issues, and what she plans to do for our country.
We talk about what it means to be a public figure. We've also talked about how nominees make tons of promises they may never be able to bring to fruition because there's a balance system in place.
He knows I'm a Sanders supporter. He knows why. We've talked about women's rights, immigrants, financial reform, and a plethora of other topics.
The best thing you can do for your kids when it comes to politics (and they're old enough to understand the issues unlike my nine year old who thinks a girl president would "kick butt") is educate them. Let them draw their own conclusions and DO NOT under any circumstances push what you think they should believe on them.
While we get a plethora of beliefs and morality from our family, pushing them blindly into what adults believe isn't going to solve any of the world's problems. They're eventually going to be adults who need to learn how to research, educate themselves, and make informed decisions.
Teach them how to think for themselves and they will run the world!
~Kim
photo credit:
Voter via Free Images(license)
New York Primary 2016 via photopin (license)
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