Teaching Your Kids About...

Politics.

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)

I'm Afraid It's Already..

...starting.

If you know me, you know its no secret one of my boys did extremely poorly in school last year. He was being picked on and he just couldn't make himself do the work....I couldn't make him either and I tried EVERYTHING!

Punishment, rewards, incentives, negation, negotiation, helicopter parenting, tutoring, yelling, jumping up and down...You name it, I tried it, but nothing worked.

He wasn't a troublemaker. Although, he has a mouth he often forgets to turn off.

Gee, I wonder where he got that from...

He didn't get into any physical altercations.

He didn't get sent down to the principal for behavioral issues.

I never got phones calls about his classroom behavior. (Although, I did get phone calls about his missing assignments and lack of work...usually when it was too late to do anything about it)

He's a good kid who just can't teach himself how to persevere through hours of lectures and worksheets.

He's an athlete. Well, he was an athlete until his grades sank so low they were the Titanic's new neighbor.

Now he's in a program that allows students to work at their own pace. They read, take notes, and then test. He doesn't change classrooms. His teachers come to him. It's a relaxed environment, as long as he's working.

Sounds perfect!

At first, when it was suggested, I went bat-shit crazy. I was angry, but the more I heard about the program the more I thought it was right in his wheelhouse.

Until today.

It's the first day of school. We'd already been through schedule pick up. Got his books and his ID. All set!

He came home today and the first thing he showed me was that he got a new ID. It's purple. Made to stand out. Made to label him as a kid who couldn't do well in a traditional classroom setting. Made to isolate him from the rest of the school. In his words, "It's so everyone knows I belong in ***."

This program has a separate entrance for these particular students. They eat lunch before all of the other students in the school. They are released out of this particular set of doors.

Absolutely NO interaction with the general population of the high school.

The more I think about it, the more upset I get. I haven't quite gotten to the point of angry yet, but I can feel it brewing like the humidity lets you know a storm is coming.

He's not a deviant.

I don't want him to become a deviant.


He doesn't even have a chance to eat lunch with this friends.

I'm sure he's not the only student that's not a deviant that's in this program, but he's the only one that's mine.

Did I throw him to the wolves?

While I understand that everyone's high school experience is different, do I want his to be one of isolation and labeling?

~Kim