I am in no real position to give parenting or youth advice however I will a little tonight. To all the parents raising young children right now especially middle-school age I hope you are leading by example when it comes to voting and ya'll are excising your right. I have voted in every election including local elections since I registered. I never had that "my vote doesn't matter" mentality like a lot of people I know. Or my favorite "If I don't register to vote then I won't get called for jury duty." I am the opposite I truly believe we have very little rights and this is one I actually take pride in.
I typically take my kids with me to vote and just talk about whatever election it is. Nobody did that when I was a kid and I remember when I turned 18 and rushed to register I was a little nervous about how the whole process works. Today my son and I walked over to vote to our local Memorial Hall. I talked briefly about the different political parties and how we needed to find our address on the board so we knew what table to go too! We discussed the word 'precinct' and then briefly reviewed the ballot. To be totally honest he knew more about who was on the ballot than I did as they discussed everything in health class today. He also told me he gets caught up watching youtube videos and he finds politics interesting. An 11 year old boy interested in politics oh God I thought?!
The thing about me is I have three solid rules my kids can attest too. I do not discuss politics, religion or sexual preference. Not just on my social media handles but not anywhere. So if you think you were going to get political views in this blog post...jokes on you. I often tell my kids if they learn one thing from me it's to have those same rules. In my own personal opinion nothing good comes out of any of that and as free Americans we have a right to believe whatever we want to believe. The political bashing that goes on and the negativity it brings is 100% not for me. I hardly watch television unless there is a sporting event on and my kids and co-workers keep me updated on all the new trending happenings. Frankly television to me brings full negativity and I already have a full glass of that so I avoid it like the coronavirus!
Here is some food for thought. The other day my daughter was talking about some political stuff they were discussing at school. Several solid points were discussed and I often forget she is only 13. She knows I will only lightly discuss some political things with her but I won't tell her who I am voting for and why. What was then said was something that stopped me in my tracks and really made me think afterwards. She told me she feels uncomfortable when other adults discuss their political views with her and in front of her, more specifically who they hate or don't hate. She brought up her thoughts on having respect for certain people that are elected and she strongly felt it's wrong that adults try and put their beliefs on children. We discussed how evil Republicans can be towards Democrats and vice versa. The conclusion was she wants to develop her own beliefs from what she learns and not what someone else tells her to believe. This is the child that has wanted to be a lawyer since she was 5. Once again I walked away from the conversation wondering who was smarter.
With all that said I hope everyone remembers this...Not voting is giving up your voice.
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