Talking To Your Kids About the Election

From Amy Smit, director of communications and administration

“Teachable moments.”  That is the phrase I keep repeating to myself every time we address the upcoming election with my two children.

Whether it’s a candidate’s position on issues or a scandal that’s making headlines, the election has provided our family with many topics for family conversations.  My husband and I embraced these opportunities to teach our kids about the political process, local and national issues, and how it all ties into our family values.

Here are a few guidelines we used to help us decide what issues to tackle and how to handle them.

Will they hear about it at school?
In our family, this is usually the first question we ask ourselves. When there is “breaking news” or particularly controversial issues, we want to talk to our kids about them before they hear about them from their friends. Not only can we give them correct information, but it also gives our kids a chance to ask questions.

How do we make this age-appropriate?
Parents need to decide what is appropriate for their children to hear.  We use the opportunity to have an age-appropriate conversation so they have a basic understanding of the issue (without too many details).

Can we deliver this message in a fair and non-partisan way?
We want our kids to grow up to be independent thinkers who desire to learn all sides of an issue. While our children know which candidates we support, my husband and I have intentionally tried to be nonpartisan in conversations about the election. This is also a great chance to reinforce the value of respect and tolerance of other people’s perspectives.

How does this align with our family values?
We always try to tie conversations back to our family values. (In our house, we use the Six Pillars of Character—trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship.) We talk about how our values influence the candidates we support and the issues we care about most. Just as importantly, we talk about how other people’s opinions are guided by their own values and are as justified as our own.

Ultimately, we hope that our family discussions teach our kids how to have meaningful conversations about important issues. Amidst what could be the most uncivil election in our nation’s history, it’s a great goal for the rest of us, too.