My AC Flora carpool will hate me by May. Last week I made them listen to #hamilton and the advice from Aaron Burr (talk less, smile more), and this morning we had a seven-minute cram session on American civics and yep, current day politics.
Now, I know what you’re thinking. My southern grandma taught me politics are right up there with sex and religion when it comes to public conversations. But she lived the most outwardly Catholic life I’ve ever seen and was known for being involved in all the small-town politics a woman in her time could be. She may not have talked about any of it, but she sure did live it loudly.
So, once the boys were done talking about the NBA all-star blow-out from the night before, I decided to turn our short commute into a quick civics lesson. In seven-minutes we talked about Justice Scalia’s death, the Constitution, and representative democracy. We talked about how sometimes it really doesn’t matter if you’re a Republican or Democrat (and there’s also this weird thing called an Independent), but it does matter you talk to each other instead of yelling, or absolutely nothing gets done.
Be tolerant of others if you expect them to be tolerant of you.
Be kind to others if you want them to be kind to you.
Listen. (Actually, I think I may have said sometimes you just need to “shut up and listen” and probably referred yet again to A. Burr and another #hamilton reference.)
And know what you’re talking about, because if you don’t, Mrs. Sauls is going to politely call you on it and so will her children.
Here’s the deal … I don’t care where you fall politically, just fall with knowledge. Our children need to understand how this all (really) works, and not talk in bumper sticker slogans or news-bites.
We can’t teach them it’s ok to let others do the heavy-thinking for us.
They study for a driving test and know how many sides are on a stop sign. They know all the stats from the most recent Super Bowl. They need to know what the United Nations does and why it’s important for the United States to belong. How many amendments are there to our Constitution and in what context were they written?
Michael (14), Colin (12), Aidan (10) and I took an “easy” civics quiz at quizpug.com. I scored a B+ and they all got A’s. Then we learned about the three-ring circus in Washington from the Schoolhouse Rock video from my childhood. Cheesy, but at least we got another basic lesson on how Washington works (and has worked for a long time).
It’s our responsibility as parents to be sure our children understand the process taking place in our country. The good, the bad and the ugly (and if you watch Schoolhouse Rock together, even the corny).
You don’t even have to focus on the specific candidates and their strengths, weaknesses and quirks (they’ll get that from Saturday Night Live and the debates, which my kids think are one and the same at this point).
Just teach them the basic rules. Teach them it’s even OK to disagree with them. But if you disagree, don’t just complain … work to make change. Work to make a difference. And always vote.
After all, even my 12-year-old knows the student body candidate who promises longer recesses and fewer math classes can’t actually make those things happen. Of course, he also knows that sometimes that candidate will win … because no one ever politely called him on it.
A great example of the kind of Mom you are. Bravo!!!