Kids and Politics

This afternoon while watching TV, a McCain ad came on - the one with Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, and they say something like, "Sure Obama's popular, but can he lead?" Then it goes on to point out some points of Obama's platform that Republicans aren't supposed to agree with. I wasn't really paying attention - Jon Stewart is my source of most election news, balanced by the Today show when I get up early enough. But apparently Maria was, because she asked why it was "endorsed by John McCain" when the ad was all about Obama. Good questions, and her first experience with negative campaigning. And it made me realize two things. One, how much more negative is this campaign going to seem as I witness it through the eyes of a curious 9-year-old, and two, how do I answer her questions while still trying to encourage her to make up her own mind.

And then I ask myself, if 9 year olds were capable of making their own decisions about the world and its leaders, wouldn't they be allowed to vote?

I guess I struggle with political discussions in general. It seems that most people only enjoy getting into political discussions if they are trying to change your mind. And so I would rather not discuss politics with most people. I have my beliefs, but don't feel the need to defend them to anyone else, or to convince others that they should believe what I believe. And I think this attitude has developed after living in an area where my beliefs are not popular. We have been here for 15 years, and it is a strong Republican county. And when you don't believe what most people around you believe, many of them try to convert you. And its much easier if I just leave that topic alone.

However, this is going to become more difficult as Maria enters 4th grade in the fall and this historic presidential election is studied. We've told Maria before that we are not Bush supporters, and given her some basic reasons when she asks (mainly that we don't like the direction the country is heading and we are ready for a change). But we don't go into it in extreme detail - it would bore her to tears at this age. And I also tell her that our opinion is different than most people around us, so that she should be aware of that when discussing these topics at school. I don't want to alarm her, but want her to be prepared for a possible attack when she supports Obama and everyone else in the class supports McCain. We've also impressed upon her that voting is a private matter, and no one has to know what she feels if she doesn't want them to.

I guess we are trying to walk the thin line of encouraging her to have her own opinion (even if it differs from ours), but also trying to teach her the values that we think are important.

So I guess I'll figure all of this out as it happens. During the last presidential election, Maria was 5 and Sam 2, so I didn't have to think about how a parent handles political discussions. It will be quite a learning experience, I'm sure.