Parenting in a Toxic Election Cycle

Ever hear the question: Is America READY for a female president? This question is SO INAPPROPRIATE for elementary school aged children to hear. Natalie dives into how to inform your child through this presidential election while protecting them from rhetoric they may not be old enough to understand. She explains how to move past the “boys vs girls” conversation and help your child understand the importance of this office.

A woman is running for president….what should we tell the kids? How parents can talk to kids about the presidential  election beyond boys vs girls

Ever hear the question: Is America READY for a female president? This question is SO INAPPROPRIATE for elementary school aged children to hear. Natalie dives into how to inform your child through this presidential election while protecting them from rhetoric they maye not be old enough to understand. She explains how to move past the “boys vs girls” conversation and help your child understand the importance of this office. 

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Transcript:

Is America ready for a female president?

Hey, it's Natalie and welcome back to primary focus, the parent's guide to elementary school. Wow. It has been a wild summer, just as a timestamp here. I'm filming this on July 30th.

This will probably come out in early August This summer, the news cycle has felt like whiplash, especially when it comes to the presidential election. I have seen so many unexpected things happen in the United States and abroad, things that have taken my breath away, astounded me, and just kept me glued to the news and now one of the most unexpected things of all, a woman might become president of the United States. Not just any woman, but potentially the first black woman to become president of the United States and the first South Asian woman to become president of the United States.

If this is achieved, it will be an enormous accomplishment for women everywhere, and especially to see that we have not only followed the path of first a white woman getting the role, instead a minority woman get the role first. It is absolutely incredible to see. Now I am not making this video to endorse a candidate for president, though I'm sure if you watch my channel for just a little while you can have a good guess about who I would be voting for.

I am here to talk about what do we talk to the kids about? A woman might become president, whether she does or not, a woman has become the top candidate to run for president. And whether she does or not, a woman for the, a woman has become one of. The top two candidates to run for the president of the United States.

And we need to really look at the kids and figure out how we're going to be talking to them about this. because within moments of hearing Kamala Harris announced her bid for presidency, I heard people asking. Is America ready for a female president?

Is America ready for a woman of color to be president?

Now listen, there is a conversation here. I think we all watched how other bidders like Hillary Clinton and Nikki Haley were completely scrutinized just for entering the room.

We all probably know somebody who wouldn't even consider voting for a woman or a person of color in this country. but as the adults in the room, when we start to hear these conversations around elementary school age kids and younger, we have to understand this conversation is so inappropriate for children to hear.

Children that are in elementary school are still learning a lot about the world, and they are not ready for a nuanced conversation like this.

When an adult asks this question, they have an entire history class and life of information backing it up. When a child hears this question, they are learning that there is an intellectual difference between men and women. They're learning that there's a difference between people that are white and people that are not white.

they may begin to look inward and wonder if there's something wrong with them. Now, I think we all know your child's going to get exposed to this question in one way or another, whether it's coming from another adult or it's coming from classmates in school. So before your child gets exposed to this question, how you can prepare. Oh, before I share that though, if you like conversations like this, make sure that you've signed up for my newsletter, which, uh, Ho ho ho though, before I share that, if you like conversations like this, make sure to sign up for my newsletter where I break down news and education and tips for parents of kids in elementary school every single Tuesday.

I've got the link down below. Oh wait a minute though, before I share, if you enjoy conversations like this, make sure to sign up for my newsletter where I break down education news and tips every single Tuesday. I've got the link in the bio below.

Let's talk about preparing your child for when they're exposed to this question. Number one, get ready with some famous firsts. It's a special time because it's the first time. Research a few

Take some time to figure out some other famous firsts that might Famous firsts. It's a special time because it's the first time. So research a few other famous firsts that may feel relevant to your child. If you're looking for other Black women or South Asian women that have had incredible firsts, you could look at Bessie Coleman, Shirley Chisholm, and Dr. Kalpana

Hard work. Take a look at each candidate's careers together. both top candidates have a long history of building a career, being persistent, and taking risks.

This is a great way to show that little choices can add up to big things. Great moment for goal setting and to let your child imagine what their life could be like.

Respect. Most Americans have pretty strong feelings about our presidential candidates, has been increasingly polarized for the last 10 years.

So a lot of children may not know that politics did not always feel this way. The way we talk about elections unfortunately means kids have missed out on learning that we should respect the people that are holding office. Check how you speak about our current president and the candidates.

Model explaining your opinion in the way that you might in a debate class. It's a great teaching moment. no matter how you feel, it is important to show that you can appreciate or dislike somebody and continue to speak about them in a respectful, honorable way.

Check your bias. We all have internalized biases about men and women in our country. For example, I noticed that I was referring to Kamala Harris by her first name, where I was referring to male candidates by their last names only. I've also noticed that I'm often ready to comment on what female presidential I've also noticed that I'm always ready to comment on what female politicians are wearing.

Check inward a little bit. Could you form a few meaningful sentences about the people that are running for candidate? Could you explain why you will or won't vote for them? Do you refer to them in similar ways? these inward reflections are good to reflect on how you speak about candidates around your children, but also to reflect if you actually know what you're talking about.

It might be time to actually research a little bit instead of forming such a fast opinion.

It's also important to check your bias, because having taught through many election cycles, I can guarantee that your kids will repeat what you're saying about the presidential candidates in school. I've had kids come in and say pretty shocking things in front of other children. Things I've had children come in and say pretty shocking things about presidential candidates in class.

Things that would be absolutely inappropriate to say about any other adult or classmate. Just be really cautious about what your child is hearing,

believe it or not, many elementary school children will proudly walk around endorsing whoever they choose.

ever their parents are voting for. While I think it's important for children to be involved politically and understand what's going on, I would never want to get in the way of that. It is a little scary sometimes to hear kids saying such grown things in such a passionate way that they really do not understand on a deeper level.

And last one, shut it down. If your child starts talking about boys versus girls, or you hear adults discussing this, don't be afraid to shut it down. let your child know that even though it can be fun to compare boys versus girls, individual people are so much more than that. how would you feel if somebody made judgments like that about you without even really knowing you?

It's a funny thing and a sad thing for me that there are so many voters that will make a decision based off of basic information that you would find on somebody's driver's license.

I think it's so important to get young children involved in keeping up with the election and understanding what's going on I mean, this is their future and we want them to understand that when they're voting at 18 that That the things that are happening right now will add up to that first time at the booth Even now, as I record this in my early 30s, it's very interesting to see how things I vaguely remember that happened in my childhood are still causing a ripple effect in election and politics today.

I think one thing we know is that down the line, a lot of people that are holding office now are winning. Or will win and get into office in this election cycle will still be in office when your child votes for the first time and probably the next few times after that.

You want your child to feel like the election is a place where your child can be involved, understand what's going on, hold a little bit of passion, but also hopefully respect

But also hold respect for that office in case they one day want to run for office or they see something going on in the office that they do not appreciate.

We want children to appreciate the country that they are from because they're the ones that are going to be taking the keys in a few years.

Anyway, I'm curious what you're thinking after watching this. Are you concerned about your child breaking this down to just be boys versus girls? Are you concerned about the way your child is thinking about the election? Or maybe it's not a big deal to you. Let us know in the comments below and if you have any other tips to help kids, and if you have any other tips to help kids keep learning and thinking critically during this election cycle.

Thanks for watching Primary Focus. My name's Natalie. I'll see you next time.

If you thought this video was interesting, you might like my series on banned books in the United States. I just came out with two videos talking about books that were banned in the 2023 2024 school year.