Elections, democracy, and respect

America is in a state of fever right now. Everywhere you go, news, advertisements, casual chat and intense discussions are centered on the build-up to the election.

This is a huge opportunity to model thoughtful, respectful discourse with your children. They are sensitive to everything going on around them. They hear what you say, even when it is not directed at them. They absorb your reasoned approaches and your respectful weighing of perspectives. They also absorb any anger, vitriol, fear, sarcasm or hyperbole that you may share in their presence.

Children are interested in what's going on. Their world is dominated by the election because it is everywhere and they hear about it constantly. They have thoughts and opinions, often (though not always) modeled on their parents. Encouraging your children to discuss their thoughts, and modeling reason and respect in doing so, helps to set a foundation for their effective engagement in the democratic process.

Children are also intensely literal. They don't necessarily know the difference between hyperbole and fact, or a sarcastic joke and actual truth. Anxiety can run rampant, opinions can be adhered to as incontrovertible, and divisiveness between children and their friends can become a significant issue. They may be afraid that they will have to move to another country. They may be terrified that they or a friend may be deported. They may even find that it makes them feel powerful to threaten their classmates with this fate.

Talking to them about the democratic process, about your thoughts regarding who you support and why, and keeping the conversation positive and respectful goes a long way towards both supporting their development as active citizens in a democracy and towards negating the anxiety produced by the constant rush of fever-pitch emotions that we are all exposed to around this subject.

Please help your children and your children's classmates by being aware of the way you represent political candidates and your opinions to them. It's important to your child's emotional wellbeing and to our whole community of children, all of whom are important whether they share political beliefs or not.

Here's an article that may help guide your thoughts (from four years ago, but still relevant). Here's another.