Did you watch the debate last night? Yeah, right. Well, at least that is what I imagine would be many people’s reply. I’m an older lady, but it used to be that politics came up every 2 or 4 years. Now there is literally not a single day that goes by that doesn’t have some sort of story about some candidate or some policy or some controversy about some policy or candidate. And there are still over 14 months until the next presidential election! When we are already burned out by all the news coverage, it seems like they are asking a lot of us to start caring about the election this far ahead of time.
Added to the oversaturation is the fact that no one likes the two front running candidates. Polls consistently show that a majority of Americans do not want either of the leading contenders to win reelection. So debates and campaigns seem pointless and boring.
But kids don’t know that. My husband was one of the people watching the debate on television last night, and our 13-year-old son walked through the living room. He stopped briefly to ask who these people were. When my husband told him they were people running for President, my son said he thought Mr. Trump was the person running, so my husband briefly explained to him the purpose and point of political primaries.
I realized that my son was in 2nd or 3rd grade when the last big campaign season was taking place, and he really doesn’t know how it all works. To him, and probably to most children and teens, it isn’t the same old, same old. For many of them, it is their first experience with an election or at least the first one they remember.
Now you have heard the advice about not talking about religion or politics at family dinners, and to some extent that applies to public blogs as well, so you will get no advice from me about who to vote for. But I will advise you to think about the young people – whether they are your kids, your grandkids, or just the kids in your church or neighborhood. Try not to sound as jaded as you may feel about this election. Yes, our country seems to have made many mistakes in recent years to get us in the mess we are in, but without elections and the right to choose our leaders ourselves, we are left with someone who takes all our choices away.
So when the little (or even bigger) ears are listening, instead of putting down the election process, build it up. Stress our privilege and responsibility to pay attention so that perhaps when they start voting, they make wiser decisions than we have. Help them understand and care. And maybe watch a debate.
