Engaging your kids in politics

My kids are in the single digits age-wise, but that doesn't mean we don't cover age-appropriate political conversation.  We do our very best to explain there is no "right" way to vote.  Just like most choices in life, it's important to review what they perceive as positives and negatives with all candidates.  

That said, I can still remember the excitement of voting for the 1st time...I pulled that lever for H. Ross Perot.  I wonder where he is today...he was a feisty little guy.  

I think in part, it is like anything else. Some kids are going to be more interested than others. Considering how unpleasant a lot of political discussions end up, I am not at all surprised that many people (not just kids) remain disengaged. And given the misinformation and backtracking* done (on both sides), it's no wonder that a lot of people feel that it is too hard to "become an informed voter".

This is not a problem limited to kids, nor it is all kids. One of my daughters is pretty uninterested in the political process overall, the other has had a strong interest since her early adolescence, was in model UN for most of junior and senior high school, is a government studies major now in college, and was so excited at the 2008 election, that even though she was still too young to vote by a few months, she could not go to sleep, even after the results were in. OTOH, my mother was just today telling me about one of her new neighbors, a woman in her late 70's, who complains intensively that "we have to get rid of Obama", but has never voted, saying that she doesn't think she knows enough about the issues and the candidates positions to make a intelligent choice.

*I have no problem with a politician changing his or her views on a subject. The ability to become better educated, or to take new information into account is not the mark of "flip flopping", it is the sign of a healthy intellect and curiosity. What I DO have a problem with, is changing positions with no justifications, or for obvious political points. And yes, again, that is true for both sides.

My oldest turns 18 a month after the election and he's really ticked that he doesn't get to vote this time around.

Even though I'm a pretty conservative guy I genuinely take a neutral stance and do my best to give him information on both sides of the issues when he asks.  I've personally spent a lot of time researching all of the issues and prioritized the ones that are most important to me and support the candidates who align the best with my issues.  I want my kid to do the same thing because if I just tell him to "vote for X" then it's not him making the choice and I'd rather have him cancel my vote out than just vote the way I do because I'm his dad.

I turned 18 just in enough time to register to vote in the 2000 presidential election.  I registered myself and showed up to vote on my own, and was freaking thrilled to do so.

I haven't missed one since then, however, every presidential election seems more and more pointless than the last.  I just don't remember 2000 being an insane party-line war like the last few years have become and this election is obviously being.  Maybe I wasn't paying close enough attention?  I know I was in college and the lines to vote were almost all students and they were long at every polling location, so "kids today" still do give a crap.  But...my vote for president?  I certainly feel like it doesn't matter.

I do try to pay closer attention and try to vote for local gov't and state representation because there are tangible results to those elections, but it's hard to be well informed.

It almost certainly doesn't. There was a whole chapter in one of the Freakonomics books about this. Unless you live in one of the dozen or so counties in the country that truly tip the balance (it's not even really about swing states - the area that really matters is very very small). But the smaller, local elections - your town councils and school boards, your state senators and house of representative - those votes matter more. And yet, in non-presidential elections, most people don't bother to vote where it would really count.

This made me think about my voting journey.  I turned 18 in 1991 when I was in the Navy.  I really liked Clinton for the "cool factor" and wanted to vote for him.  I didn't want to go through the absentee ballot process so I didn't vote, but would have voted for Clinton.  I had no clue about any of the issues so I was pretty much casting a popularity vote.  1996 rolled around and I wasn't enamored by Dole so planned to vote for Clinton again for the same reasons but I was on deployment and didn't get my absentee paperwork filled out in time (see the pattern here).

It wasn't until 2000 that I started to get engaged on the issues and forming opinions on candidates based on their beliefs versus how cool they were.  I lived in the Chicago area around this time and tried to register to vote, but the line was literally an hour long and I had to leave early the two times I tried to register.  So, I still ended up not voting because I was in a solid blue state and my vote "kind of" didn't matter.

It wasn't until we moved to Omaha in 2001 that I officially registered and have never missed an election.  Even the small local elections for this and that.

All three of my teenagers are far more informed than I ever was on both sides of the issues.  My oldest (17) is kind of in the middle because he likes some of the social programs that Obama has put out, but he also dislikes paying taxes and wants less government involvement.  My middle son(15) is pretty conservative on just about every front.  I'd say he's even more conservative than me.  My daughter (13) is probably the most bleeding heart liberal I know.  She's a vegetarian, loves animals (think PETA), wants to save the environment, and yells at me for not having a more fuel efficient car.  haha 

Completely agree.  Local elections are huge and generally impact us on a daily basis far more than who is president.

One thing that's cool in NE for the presidential election is we give out 2 electoral votes for the state winner and then 1 electoral vote for each congressional district.  I live in Omaha which Obama carried last year by just a few thousand votes.  So even though I'm in a solid red state I'm still in a "swing district" within the red state.

I'm in the opposite situation. Philly is solidly blue (practically grape!) but as a state we have swung either way.

My son is asking when he'll get his registration card, so maybe this is a turning point for getting him interested in the election.

Here's my kid..am I doing it right?   Kidding!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOnHrAGKwJ4&feature=fvwrel

Actually it's pretty disturbing to engage a 6 year old in this way...

Wow. Just...wow. Disturbing at so many levels, I don't even know where to begin. Wow.

x2. It's neither cute nor funny.

And I have a real problem with teaching your kids not to respect others. I don't care who it is or how much is disagree with them, the President still deserves respect and courtesy.

I just remember this making the rounds a while back... I do not endorse this type of behavior with children.

As for respect, that's a funny word.  I can be respectful of the office of the President while still having little respect for the job he's doing.