Mom2mom poll: Do you talk with your kids about the election?

[kckady]

Are you a political family? Do you discuss the upcoming presidential election with your kids every night at dinner? Not so much? This week we're wondering how much presidential politics gets bandied about at your house. Let us know and see what others say!
Answer the weekly poll question, post your comments and read The Star's FYI section on Tuesday, Nov.6 (election day!) to see what other moms say. Also check back often on mom2momkc.com to see how the mom2mom panel answered.

The question: Do you talk with your kids about the presidential election?
A. No
B. Yes, a little bit
C. Yes, we discuss it frequently

[jacobsmommy921]

I answered no, since "not yet" was not a choice. My son is a little young to understand the election process. But when he gets older and starts learning about government and the election process in school, we will definitely talk to him about it.

[jacobsmommy921]

I answered no, since "not yet" was not a choice. My son is a little young to understand the election process. But when he gets older and starts learning about government and the election process in school, we will definitely talk to him about it.

[acorlew]

Yes, not only do we talk about the elections coming up. We are in one! My husband is running for State Representative. Our family has been campaigning for over a year. Our children have been involved hands on and grasp at a young age what civics is all about. It has been a wonderful teaching tool about respecting others opinions, volunteerism and loving the community we live in. We call ourselves "team Corlew" and they know what being a family team is all about.

[valeho]

The election process was explained (Obama) at school when my son was in Kindergarten (Obama) (election 2008). They were able to vote (Obama) at school in a mock election. This go round (Obama), my son is older and wiser to issues important to my family and myself (Obama) (and him), so we are talking frequently about (Obama) which candidate is right for our country.

[JanHarness]

Here's one of the great joys about having kids who aren't "children." I can not only talk with my daughters about the election; they're old enough to go vote with me! And our political discussions before the vote get more interesting every year.

[ithaca2kc]

Absolutely! But this is a very age-based answer.

Weekly news reports in elementary are all over this topic, the middle schooler is doing a mock presidential debate in history and the high schooler is my regular companion for Friday nights with Bill Maher. All of those lead to lively discussions.

My oldest just misses voting this time and will have to wait for his first presidential election until 2016. He's away at school, and really the only one I haven't discussed the election with. I figure on campus, he's exposed to it enough.

And from the youngest ages, I've always brought my kids to vote with me, even if the timing isn't the most convenient. I want them to see that I value my right to vote so I hopefully raise them to do the same.

[sashamae]

Our oldest comes home with a few things from school, so of which are true and some have a big spin from the teachers. So we try and correct the incorrect facts and give him more information so that he can make a better decision. He is only 7 so it isn't the world to him. Our daughter doesn't care she colors whatever coloring page they give her in her choice of colors for the day. (Lately there have been a lot of purple pages coming home.) DH and I don't always see eye to eye on everything .. . but everyone is entitled to their opinion no matter how wrong it might be.

[Qcaller]

My little people are just now figuring out about government leaders and aren't really old enough to understand the issues. We generally watch recorded TV shows and skip all the political advertisements. There are some very important women's issues at risk in Missouri this year but I feel my daughter is a bit young for those discussions. I sometimes take my children with me when I vote so they've been exposed to that. Our extended family is divided politically and discussions could get pretty heated so we steer clear of those talks at family gatherings.

As my kids get older and understand civics a bit better, we'll definitely discuss the issues and candidates more often.

Pam West

[sahmiam43]

Yes, we do. This year my husband and I are not voting for the same person, so we have tried to explain the different candidates in the most unbiased way possible. We may not always have succeeded (Yeah, OK we failed), but when we had them take the Isidewith test they all had different outcomes so I guess it's working at showing them how to make up their own minds.


http://www.isidewith.com/