Politics & Parenting

Life has EVERYTHING to do with raising our children - whether it be toilet training, sibling rivalry, friends and sharing, driving, food we eat or don't eat, and politics.

OUR DECISIONS AFFECT OUR CHILDREN. Even down to the laundry detergent we choose - affects our children. So yeah - politics IS a part of life, whether you (not YOU - but the general YOU) like it or not.

ANY Election - whether it be for town council, PTA, governor, senator, President affect our futures. We take our kids with us. We discuss our reasons for voting the way we did/do. They get to go into the booth with us and see what their civic responsibility will be when they turn 18.

What do we teach them about the privilege and responsibility that comes with being an American? that our Constitution matters and no matter how many years has passed, it is STILL valid...Our voices matter. Free speech, gun ownership, all of it - a privilege that was not given lightly. Many fought and died for these freedoms.

This is a great question. Yes, I think it is important to expose our kids to our political process. It does affect them in school, home, everywhere. I lived overseas for a few years in South America. I remember when the military government allowed local elections. Nothing real major but I remember seeing people lining up several days before the election. It stuck with my and my mom said

"not every country allows open elections. Not every country allows its citizens to elect their leaders. We, as Americans have that priviledge because our ancestors fought and died for that right. You have the responsibility as an American to vote."

I take that responsibility very serious and I raised my kids to have that same sense of responsibility. No matter what, your vote counts. So yes, it is teaching kids just like teaching potty training, sharing, cleaning up after yourself. That is what a parent does, teach.

Mallory, I respect your answer. However, I couldn't disagree with you more. I spanked my kids, I let them watch tv, I didn't co-sleep (think that is a terrible idea). However, I certainly don't hold that against anyone on here. We all have different ideas about parenting. I don't think less because someone does or doesn't do something. If you think less of someone because they are affiliated with a certain political party, that is on you.

We discuss politics and theology and all sorts of things with and in front of our kids. I have taken my kids into the voting booth with me in the past. But not always.... because sometimes they are at school.

My son, 14, is ready for the Obama's to go, because he hates what they have done with the school lunch menu since Michelle's childhood obesity initiative. They also have learned what "free breakfast" at school really is (it isn't free food). And a myriad other things, that are discussed as they come up. I never miss an opportunity to expand my children's view of what is being presented to them. Everybody has an agenda... starting with commercials for the preschool set.

And I have no problem whatsoever discussing politics on this site. If you don't want to participate in those types of discussions, skip them. Nobody is forcing you to read every question posted, or respond to every question posted. And yes, politics is relevant to my children's world. It will be SHAPING the world they will be living in.
ETA: that "you" didn't mean YOU, it just meant the parents out here in mamapedia-land.

And Mallory, there are plenty of parents on here that get clouded views of others based soley off of whether or not spanking is acceptable, or co-sleeping vs. sleep training. I really see no difference. If the questions do not appeal to you, skip them.

I absolutely agree.
At the last elections my son came home to me and told me they were talking about republicans and democrats in his classroom. That McCain and Obama were running for president. My son tells me that a boy in his class raised his hand and said, "My parents said a black man will never run this country"

Hmmm....which led to a big long discussion about race, politics, and how I KNEW our president would open the door for people like MY son (who is mixed) to be the next president if he wanted to.

Our choices about who to vote for directly affect our lives. It affects those of us that receive medical benefits, those of us that own homes, those of us that struggle day to day to make ends meet. ALL OF US.

I think it's ridiculous to say that politics don't affect our children. Our children are our future (so cliche!) and who I vote for directly affects them.

L.

Of course American politics has a lot to do with raising children and parenting. We will lose the right to vote if we do not teach our children how precious it is to live in a free country. Part of teaching them this is getting them interested and impressing upon them their responsibility to their country when they turn 18.

Our family discusses art, literature, sports, music, current events and politics on a daily basis. We all watched the debates together (10 year old too) and discuss local/regional issues that will be on the ballot. It's part of raising a well rounded person and a responsible member of society.

To hear people complain that it's all just exhausting and too much work to educated themselves on issues and candidates is maddening. There are people all over the world who would literally DIE for the opportunity to live in a democratic country. When I hear that only about 1/2 our population exercises their right to vote I know in my heart we will all suffer for their apathy. Would anyone rather live under a dictatorship? I think ignorance is not bliss it's oppression.

I agree just as you do. The person who said this site is for parenting not politics - probably did not like what the person said in the post or did not agree with them. Anyway, yes, it is our responsibility as parents to teach our children everything we can, and to guide our children with our own moral beliefs. How else are kids supposed to know? I only took my oldest child in once into the voting booth, when he was young. He hit the "vote now" button before I was done making my selections!! So no I haven't taken them back since I vote when they are in school, but I am glad you brought that up because I think I will take him this year since next time around he will be able to vote!! And yes we do discuss politics with our kids and let them know how we feel, and they do discuss in school also. They like to talk about the current events happening too.

Politics is part of family life and parenting. It directly relates to our lives as a whole. It's something our children are exposed to early on. Of course it should be discussed on this site as long as people are respectful to each other without flaming each other for political views or affiliations.

My kids know who our Mayor is, they know our City Counsellor, our Member of Legislative Assembly, our Member of Parliament and our Prime Minister. I tell them who we vote for and why. We put signs on our lawn to support our candidate. We discuss politics in front of them, and sometimes with them. I take them to the polling station with me whenever I go to vote. My ten year old understands the basic differences between Conservative, Liberal and New Democrat idealogies. I read the paper every day, and if something really interesting happens in the political world I will tell the kids about it. I also teach them about taxes and explain how we pay for things like schools, roads and hospitals.

I think it depends on how the question or post is phrased.

So, did you know "Obamacare has death panels" or "what do you think about Mittens only caring about 47%" are posts meant to incite emotion, aren't helpful, don't ask for advice/seek understanding and I don't feel either are, necessarily, appropriate.

On the other hand..... "how do I explain to my 14 year old who was told by a friend at school that when a woman is raped her body will take care of it so there is no baby"..... well that is DIRECTLY relevant to parenting. or "My son is 24 and wants to get married, but is worried about not having any insurance. I've looked online, but I can't decipher all the insurance *stuff*.... can one of you mama's decipher how it will affect him".

I think those are relevant and appropriate and I like those. Even other posts, if they are phrased in a way to seek understanding and are well thought out can be helpful to the community at large. Plus it gives everyone an ability to learn about the topic, but in a *helpful* way. Posts that are inaccurate, based on rumor or spread lies and aren't originated in a supportive spirit (generally) and I find them to be frustrating.

That said.... I typically skip the stuff that frustrates me. :-)

Yes, we do talk about the election, the importance of voting, the different political philosophies of each party, etc. in our household. In fact, our daughter just 'voted' herself, at her request (she's 7):

http://www.nick.com/kpp

It is our job as parents to raise our children to be responsible adults (not just to simply bring them to adult age and hope for the best). I agree with you whole heartedly. We discuss the people running, what we may agree with for each or disagree...that there isn't any one person with the best ideas on everything but rather which we agree with the most and not just what they say but rather if they seem sincere (lip service means nothing to me). I also am very vocal with the fact that if you don't vote, you have no right to complain regardless of who is voted in or out of office (even if you agree with me)...if you voted the person in and they are letting you down, you have a right to complain....if you voted for the opposite person, you have the right to complain.

As for what this site is for...it is for helping parents (specifically moms) with issues they are encountering. In my opinion, if it affects a parent it is relevent even if it isn't a "parenting issue".

I agree with you - when you are fortunate enough to live in a democracy, you have a responsibility to be an informed participant. So much of what goes on in election directly relates to our children and families - how can being a parent NOT affect and inform our votes?

My non-school-age kids have always come with me to the voting booth. They know that I go to town meetings and we vote on things there (and if there is something related to school or something else they're interested in, I tell them what's on the warrant and how the vote went). One of my children's friend's mothers is the head of our Board of Selectmen so the kids knew when she was running for re-election and why we had her sign on our lawn.

The kids know that we've been watching the VP, President and Senate candidates' debates and that my husband and I have A LOT of opinions (often differing ones).

Hi! We have a responsibility as parents to teach our children about politics. If we don't who will? This is not something they should learn from TV ads or from friends on a street corner.

The other night my 9 year old daughter and I sat there watching the presidential debate. Prior to that day my daughter caught me yelling at the tv due to an ad that was running. I explained why I was having such an emotional and argumentative reaction to the ad. This led to a discussion on same sex marriage, the definition of marriage, and who has the right to be married all actually led by my daughter. She is saddened by the fact that she cannot vote until she is 18 but understands that she's just a kid. At the same time she is also well aware of how important this election and other elections are due to how they can impact our lives. It felt very nice to have a discussion about those things with my daughter. This has opened the door to us having other talks about various topics. I believe this is very important.

Some of the issues in this debate are birth control/contraceptives/right to choose. So, yes, it is about parenting in that respect. Also teaching our children about the history of our democratic process, and how to win/lose graciously especially for parents with children running for elections in their own schools.

Where I find the best deals on say, shoes, are not parenting issues, but no one would complain about that. (However, Zappos.com is fabulous). Trying to keep a sense of humor here.

I showed my kids how I was filling out my absentee ballot (I live out of the country) and took them with me to mail it. I have also encouraged all my fellow ex-pats to vote. When my daughters asked why I was encouraging an aquaintance who has different political ideas to vote, it opened up a great discussion about how everyone should be voting no matter who they end up voting for. Democracy means accepting and welcoming other ideas, something many in our great nation seem to have forgotten this election cycle. I'm with you: we are all responsbile for making our voices heard, and helping our neighbors do the same!

It absolutely is a HUGE part of how we raise our kids. Our house is difficult because I am conservative and my husband is liberal. Our kids see both sides of politics and hear different reasonings as to why we think some things are right. I honestly think my husband leans more towards conservative views, but there is no way he would vote that way...I think for fear of his mom.

I agree, the "fights" dont need to happen here, but it is a big part of life.

My 9 year old came in my room this morning and told me they had a debate in her class yesterday and figured out that 10 kids would vote for Obama and 7 would vote for Romney. I asked her if any of them knew the issues and where the candidates stood. She said NO. Then why have the debate?

I asked her if she knew what it meant when people said we need to fix the economy, socialist programs, taxes, health care, jobs, etc. She knows what the terms are to a degree, but not to the level the candidates are discussing them. So I'm going to email the teacher and just ask how that all went down, I think. I'm just curious.

I hate to be divisive on this site. As mothers no one has cornered the market on good parenting advice. That being true, we need everybody's help to get a grip on good solutions. everyone brings experience to the table and along with wisdom that brings us to what's the best questions to ask and things to look for and ultimately the right thing for the situation. I would hope that would be the same for the information we exchange on politics. It would lead us to better understanding and valuable questions to make informed choices.

The choices we make in politics effect our children and these days the choices we make will effect out grandchildren also. The deficit we have at this moment will lead our grandchildren into poverty. You think you have it bad? Just wait. That's a fact, not a political statement. Our media is failing us big time. Yes, graze in many fields but give your own milk. In other words, watch more than one station. Think with your head not your emotions.
If you don't like politics, don't click on the question.

I absolutely agree....but I do NOT agree that a parenting SITE should include politics. You can find more than enough sites online to feed every political whim that you may have. This site shouldn't be one of them. Because the thing is I do not want our politics to cloud our opinions of one another. I want to respect and admire avery one of us as a MOM/DAD--not an R D or I. And I AM ok with others having differing opinions but when they are presented immaturely, as they often are on here, it really does cause me to think less of the poster.

I have no idea what post you are referring to, but if the content of the post was about parenting, then politics probably didn't have a place in the answers. We have a few on here that will try to squeeze politics into every nook & cranny, and frankly, it's annoying.

Although teaching our children to form their own informed opinions, teaching them about politics in general, is a necessity (obviously), it has its place. It's important to teach your kids that as well.

For example, there is a kid, 13, who goes to my daughters' taekwondo school. He asked the instructor the other day, in front of several other people, "Who are you going to vote for?" Okay... tacky. He didn't know. No one had ever told him that was tacky.

We haven't put much of an emphasis on politics in our household just because my husband and I both find it to be so exhausting any more. It's such a circus. Finding true, factual information to intelligently form your own opinions is damn near impossible. I don't really want to teach my kids to feed from the wells of the right or the left... but what options do we have? Not a whole lot. My kids are still young though (8 and 5), so I got some time to figure it out.

I let my kids enjoy being kids. Not saying that you don't, I just don't like to involve kids in adult matters. My son knows who the president is as well as our mayor. He is 6 and that is enough for him to know.

My daughter is 15, she of course knows more and we have discussions. I tell her what I wrote in the other post, research each candidate, decide for yourself which you like and vote accordingly. Does she know who I will vote for? Yes. Does she know why I made my choice? Yes.

I do agree with you that our children need to be guided into how to make the right decision. I don't and won't talk about it at the dinner table every night however. She knows we can talk about it anytime she wants though.
Not knocking anyone else but at the dinner table we talk about their day at school from the learning to the social aspects. We also usually plan and discuss our weekends.

I think people base it off how they were raised. I know I do. I always knew the importance of voting, but it did not consume my family at election time. I have voted in every election since I was old enough.

My parents raised us in front of the news and with political discussions. My dad got me a subscription to Time Magazine when I was 12. He's a retired Air Force Lawyer who was director of International Law at the Pentagon. This was in the days when everyone watched the same news and read the same magazines and papers, and Repubs and Dems weren't so far apart and combative. Now as adults, my husband and I vent our hostilities to friends (and on mamaedia) but are careful to teach the kids to respect other's opinions, and always keep debates respectful with family and friends of differing views in person. I tell them all the time that my dad is a Republican and I'm a Democrat, so they might not love the Democrats when they get older just because we do...of course since they're very young they say they will :) Gotta love tiny kids :) I actually did a lot of volunteering to help with voter ID situation here in PA and brought the kids to the local Democratic office numerous times and to several health care reform rallies a few years ago, and they always come with me to vote. I want them to find their own views, but they're seeing me put energy into the process for my views, which I always admired in my parents (even thought they're Republicans. grr.)

I'm a mom who loves politics on this site-it's a wake-up call to us all to see what some fellow mommas out there think....it helps me understand "types" better in the real world community to read all this cyber banter.

My son is only 17 months so it's a bit early yet. But I will bring him to the voting booth with me. My parents literally met because of the civil rights movement, (my dad asked my mom on their first date planning a sit in), so he will know that his grandparents literally put their lives on the line so that we can vote, and we will not take that lightly. I also belong to a progressive religion that values activism so civic and social responsibility will be something he learns at home and at church.

I am single so no spouse to argue with. He's stuck with my hippie progressive/socialist ideas until he's older. I will get my best friend to explain the other side so he gets an unbiased reasoned view of conservatism from someone I trust.

I'm on the other side of the coin. I really don't feel it's important to discuss politics with elementary school aged children, since they don't fully understand the issues and how people should research/know the candidates stands on issues/which issues are important to the voter, etc. It's just not something that's "cut and dry" like a "popularity contest." I feel middle school is a great time to introduce American freedom and the right to vote, politics, and the constitution and the bill of rights. Then in high school you can get into details, since they will be closer to voting age. I just don't feel children should have to worry about issues like sending more soldiers off to Iran/Iraq or terrorism. It's just too heavy. Hubby and I did explain the difference between communism and capitolism, which includes the right to vote, to our son when he was in middle school. The best thing about it is that since hubby is from a China, our son gets to be told about the possitive and the negative about both communism and capitolism. Of course our house favors capitolism, which is why my hubby became a U.S. citizen, but there will always be good and bad about everything. I do remember him asking about voting when Pres. O ran the first time for presidency, which was the first time his school ever did anything about voting. They held their own presidential election. My son was a little upset that it seemed more like a popularity contest, since he asked his friends why did they vote the way they did and they responded that they voted for the "cool" looking guy....Just what we don't want people to do.