How to talk to your child about politics

Religion and politics are known to be difficult topics to talk about with anyone, especially when you don’t have the same ideals . When the elections approach, it is even more likely that discussions will appear about it. Children are not immune to political winds and, particularly at election time, they can find themselves in the middle of a political discussion. Talking about politics with children can be a real struggle for many parents.

Nowadays there are many parents who begin to talk about politics with their children when they are between 5 and 8 years old but they begin to understand more what it is from the age of 12. For parents who do not talk about politics, it is because they think their children are too young to understand what it is about. But talking about politics with children, is it really necessary? When should it start and how should it be approached?

WHEN TO TALK POLITICS WITH CHILDREN

Parents start talking about politics when their children are in primary school, that is, when they are between 6 and 12 years old … although as we have mentioned above, there are parents who start earlier. Ultimately, the best time to talk to children about politics is a personal family choice. It depends on how comfortable parents are talking about politics, and whether they think their children are mature enough to understand it.

Perhaps a good indicator of when children are ready is when they begin to ask questions.  This could come up during an election year, or perhaps when a public policy issue is in the limelight. Families can begin the conversation with younger children with the concept of voting rather than politics in general.

Whether or not parents think their children are ready for these kinds of conversations, they are ready to begin learning the importance of voting. You can take them to the polls and ask, “What would you do if you were president?” It may be the beginning of this very interesting conversation.

CONVERSATION PROBLEMS, BUT NOT POLITICS

Once you’ve covered the topic of voting and discussed the structure of the political system, it is often best to talk about public policy issues that are of interest to you, your children and your family, before delving into further discussions. complicated, such as candidates and campaigns.

It is often good to start discussions with local issues that your children can relate to. Perhaps the local bond election for a new school or other topic being debated in the community would be a good place to start. Talk to them about the issue, the pros and cons, and how to think about how the community will decide on the issue.

Once you’ve helped them through the process of thinking about a local problem, you can tackle broader topics like health care, gun control, and electrical power. It is better to start with close topics and then expand.

ENCOURAGE SOLUTIONS AND CHALLENGE YOUR THOUGHTS

It is important that parents are able to foster solutions and challenge their thoughts. There are certain topics that children can understand at a basic level: immigration, health care, gun restrictions, and school funding could be some that I could synthesize and explain very simply.

With more difficult problems, explaining the problem in a short answer and then asking how they would fix it is a great way to get them to develop their political views and values.

STAY NEUTRAL AND HELP THEM FIND THEIR OWN IDEAS

One of the most important responsibilities of parents is raising children to become adults who can think for themselves, make good decisions, and contribute to the communities to which they belong. If you take the time to convince them to see things your way and from your point of view, you will only discourage them from learning new life skills.

In this sense, when you talk to your children about politics, encourage them to see all sides and see how complicated things can be. You can help them understand that good people can disagree on core beliefs and be sincere, thus being good people. It is necessary that they know how to differentiate themselves from those who only for political interests tell many lies just to gain the trust of the people, but in reality, they only lie and lie.

Children need to find factual information about the issues and candidates that exist in the elections so that they know how to decide how they personally feel about the issues. It is important that they understand the amount of thought and compassion it takes to solve these problems. As complicated as politics is, it is a great opportunity for you to teach values ​​to both your individual and family children. You may have a child who thinks totally differently from you, and that’s okay … it means they have excellent critical thinking!

The idea of ​​helping children make value-based decisions about problems is very important. You need to focus on the values ​​that underlie their positions (and the positions of others) so that they can see these things from a values-based perspective.

AVOID THE NASTIEST LAKE IN POLITICS

Children can hear many things about politics, they can even see how other people argue about it. Parents need to keep kids out of political fights , arguments that never lead anywhere good. Children need to understand that sometimes when a person wants to win, like a politician who wants to win an election, he can become a real bad person.

On many occasions, political processes become toxic . As we keep conversations with children focused more on politics and less on personality, we can keep the obnoxious in context and help them see how the dialogue can be so much better than what can be seen on the television news.

Helping children to participate and be engaged citizens is part of what we do as parents. By following some of these principles, we can make the opportunity to discuss politics with our children a positive part of our role as teachers and parents.