Focus on Education Your Child and Politics

Shortly we will begin to see roads lined with sign boards plastered with smiling faces urging you to vote for them. All TV programs will be sprinkled with candidates’ faces and pleas for your vote. The newspapers’ profits will soar in this economic depression as they become loaded with political advertisements. So where does your child fit into all of this hullabaloo?

It is essential that your child develop both a genuine understanding of the political process of this country and a commitment to see it work well. We are the government–not “those politicians!” With so many different viewpoints and a cancerous suspicion of politicians, it is vital that your child learn how the government works and how political leaders are elected.

Healthy political convictions spark a patriotic spirit which results in a persistent appreciation of the CNMI and it’s commitment to human freedom and dignity. This should include affirming our Christian heritage. Children must be taught to love our islands along with its good and bad points. To love our islands is to want to make them more just and compassionate. That’s why patriotism should lead to involvement in the political process.

Here are some ways to help our children build an appreciation for our heritage and an enthusiasm for actively preserving it. In a few years, they will become voters just as you are. Unless they are taught while young and through practice with you as you perform your civic duty, they will remain ignorant voters easily swayed by false promises.

A. Explain to your child who the various candidates are and the offices they are seeking. Discuss what the House of Representatives, the Senate and the Administration does and their composition.

B. Teach them who the current elected leaders are and the offices they hold. If your child is old enough, explain the various agencies that make up the government.

C. If they have never visited the Legislative Building and the Administration, take them on a field trip there. Include a tour to the Judicial Building as well and explain how the court system works.

D. Take your child to political rallies. Afterwards discuss what happened and what was said. Visit different parties regardless of your affiliation.

E. Create an opportunity such as at the dinner table to discuss the day’s news. Try assigning them to read and explain a pertinent political issue. Listen to the news on television and discuss it together.

F. Talk about various labels and biases in attitude toward government. Define the meaning of words such as conservative, liberal, and radical; left and right; Democrat and Republican and other party names.

G. Explain the value of certain governmental controls. Discuss consequences of not having a health department, public school system, utilities agency, police and fire department, and all the other government agencies that service the community.

H. Involve your teenager in the political process on some level. They can distribute handbills in the neighborhood or help with telephone canvassing.

I. Explain the voting process and the value that one be an informed voter. Take them with you on election day and let them watch you vote.

J. Discuss with your children the various issues that candidates are raising and how they plan to resolve them. Teach them to evaluate what the candidates are saying.

Please don’t rely upon the schools to indoctrinate your child into the world of politics. It is not their responsibility. Only you the parent can go into the details necessary. With a little creativity and imagination, exposing your child to politics can be both fun and rewarding. In fact, you will also learn a lot by teaching your child about politics.