Even grown-ups are covering their ears lately when watching the latest news on the Presidential election. My own 16 year old couldn’t wait to tuck in and enjoy the craziness of last night’s debate, and she was not disappointed.
So how are kids filtering the information that flows to them from modern day sources? Are we talking to our kids, reassuring them, or are we finding ways to shield them from the harsh reality of this campaign’s dark side?
In an interesting article posted in NYMag , Mrs. Fratarcangeli’s third graders from a charter school in Mill Basin, Brooklyn are interviewed about their impressions of the presidential election and about New York’s own Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.
You may be surprised at some of the comments made by these 7 and 8-year olds. “He [Trump] doesn’t want any black people in New York, he wants them back in their own country.” says one child…clearly misinformed, but informed nonetheless.
My own sixteen year old is a bit of a news junkie (can’t imagine where she gets that from) but I am frequently amazed at how easily she keeps her own perspective, independent of what the media or her friends say. I suspect that parents with kids of all ages are engaging in these conversations and would love to hear from some of you about how you’ve approached it. Are they asking questions or telling you what they think? PM me your story or share in comments.
Via dottiedog in chat: “you could perhaps inform them that we elect our leaders based on investigating into which party supports the things important to them so it is important that they consider things in their day to day lives that would be important to have an elected government that supports those things”