Do you discuss politics with your kids (grand-kids, nephews, nieces, neighbours kids)?
Do you turn on the news and engage them in current events?
If not, why not?
If you already do this, you are doing one of the greatest things that you can do for that young mind.
I grew up in a household where there was a quick, belligerent one-liner thrown towards the television or the radio broadcast. That was it. No in-depth discussion. No exploration of views. No comparing and contrasting. Just a quick, uneducated remark thrown toward the TV screen.
Now that I look back, I see the importance of engaging the youth in political discussion. I can see the lights come on in their eyes as you ask them questions, and they use their God-given common sense to explore an issue and find some sort of position to rest upon.
The most important element of this discussion is asking THEM the questions. For example: What do you think about environmentalism? If you had to make a difficult decision regarding oil and gas transport, would if make more sense for you to choose the Keystone XL pipeline (tube running through land to a neighboring country), or shipping it from half way across the world, using a tanker that burns coal and increases carbon footprint?” You see, in many of today’s issues that our politicians can’t seem to make sense of, the mind of babes have quick, common sense resolutions for us.
If you haven’t started doing this, then please do! Our future depends on it!