February 17, 2017
If you’re a parent, one of the things that nobody teaches you is how to talk to your kids about politics. Parenting books and magazines may teach you how to change a diaper but they certainly don’t talk about how or when to start a conversation about the important issues that affect your family.
You may have a lot of questions when it comes to discussing these issues with your kids. For example, when should you start the conversation? What topics should you address and which ones should you avoid? Are there any fun or creative ways to get kids interested in political issues?
For the answers to these questions and more, here’s ENTITY’s guide to talking to children about politics.
One of the easiest ways to start a conversation with your kids is to leave the dialogue open for discussion and opinion. By leaving the conversation open for discussion you will allow your kids to form their own opinions and points of view. You might want to bring up something you heard on the news on the way home from school or during dinner. Ask your kids what they think about the issue or just leave it open for debate. Even if they don’t agree with you on everything, it’s important to let them know that they are entitled to their own opinion.
Instead of talking about politics in terms of Republican and Democrat, try talking about the issues in a more general sense. If you’re looking for ideas or topics of discussion, you’ll definitely want to check out tolerance.org.
Teaching tolerance was designed for teachers but it’s a great resource for parents as well. The website offers resources for both younger and older students from pre school age to high school. A few of the topics covered include religious diversity, prejudice, and immigration. Many of the lessons are interactive and include analyzing photographs, responding to discussion questions, and conducting interviews.
If it’s an election year and you have middle or high school aged kids, another great way to learn about political issues is to watch the debates. Hearing what each candidate has to say first hand is the best possible way to sort fact from fiction.
A lot of the news and social media coverage during an election season strays away from fact and focuses on hearsay so it’s important to be able to distinguish between the two. That way you don’t have to rely on the news to interpret the discussion for you. After the debate you might want to talk about what stood out about each candidate including their views and goals for the future.
