Ulty
New member
We don't watch much news in our house. I mostly read and occasionally watch a variety of sources, but we don't watch the news on TV. My kids watch snippets of news at school (CNN10), and we occasionally talk about current events as a family, but by and large the world has been so crazy and toxic the last few years, that we decided to keep the constant news coverage shut off. My wife and I sit down with our kids (ages 9 and 11) to talk about the major, historic issues that occur, though. In the past year, we discussed George Floyd and the racial protests. We attended a George Floyd vigil together in our town. We watched election coverage together and talked about how government works (er...how it is supposed to work, anyway). We obviously have had to talk about the pandemic and taking appropriate precautions because it directly influenced our kids' school and social activities. We watched the SpaceX launch this summer. But mostly, we have steered clear of the craziness of politics the last few years.
My wife and I our both liberal, but we made a decision even before having kids that we would not go out of our way to indoctrinate our kids when it comes to our own political views and even when it comes to religion. We want them to figure things out and make their own decisions. What we do try to instill are our values. But Trump has made it hard to separate values from politics. Trump is simply an awful person and not the way any human should act, whether you are a child or adult. In terms of behavior, honesty, kindness, empathy, Trump and his supporters represent the stark opposite of how a person should be. And what we are seeing in our country right now is not how our nation should be.
So the events of yesterday (the insurrection at the US Capitol) were obviously too important to ignore. When I started seeing the news unfold in the afternoon, my kids were just finishing school for the day, so my wife and I gathered our kids and we turned it on and watched. It was difficult to explain. Even as adults it is hard to understand, and downright impossible to explain in a vacuum without other context. It was upsetting to my children. It was upsetting to me.
We first assured our kids that they were safe, and nothing was going to happen to us in our home, and that even as bad as this looked in the moment, things were going to get better. I gave a brief explanation about how Trump has spent years feeding misinformation to his followers and intentionally encourages chaos instead of seeking peace, and the events of the day were the result of his supporters believing false information and disregarding law and order. We believe in peaceful protest, but this is not it. We believe in freedom of speech, but this is not it. And we love our country, but this was an attack on our government.
I told them that I was angry, and that even though I have been on this planet for 41 years, I did not quite know how to process this, so I did not expect my kids to know how to process this, either. We asked them how they felt and if they had any questions. We also told them that we still have hope in our country. There are more of us who believe in courage, kindness, and honesty than there are people like Trump. But they are the ones making all the noise right now. That is why it is even more important that we continue to stand up for our values. Things are messy today, and they have been for the past 4 years, because leadership has encouraged it. But we told our children that there are people who want things to get better, there are people who care, and we will stay on the right side of history.
So, my fellow Huskerboarders with children...how do you explain current events? What sort of conversations do you have with your family? Do you have any suggestions? Even if you don't have kids, how do you think you would try to make sense of this stuff? I am obviously on the liberal/progressive side, but I am also interested in how Republican voters explain things to your kids? How can you support Trump and still try to raise responsible children? What values and behavior do you model?
(TL/DR: just answer the thread title)
My wife and I our both liberal, but we made a decision even before having kids that we would not go out of our way to indoctrinate our kids when it comes to our own political views and even when it comes to religion. We want them to figure things out and make their own decisions. What we do try to instill are our values. But Trump has made it hard to separate values from politics. Trump is simply an awful person and not the way any human should act, whether you are a child or adult. In terms of behavior, honesty, kindness, empathy, Trump and his supporters represent the stark opposite of how a person should be. And what we are seeing in our country right now is not how our nation should be.
So the events of yesterday (the insurrection at the US Capitol) were obviously too important to ignore. When I started seeing the news unfold in the afternoon, my kids were just finishing school for the day, so my wife and I gathered our kids and we turned it on and watched. It was difficult to explain. Even as adults it is hard to understand, and downright impossible to explain in a vacuum without other context. It was upsetting to my children. It was upsetting to me.
We first assured our kids that they were safe, and nothing was going to happen to us in our home, and that even as bad as this looked in the moment, things were going to get better. I gave a brief explanation about how Trump has spent years feeding misinformation to his followers and intentionally encourages chaos instead of seeking peace, and the events of the day were the result of his supporters believing false information and disregarding law and order. We believe in peaceful protest, but this is not it. We believe in freedom of speech, but this is not it. And we love our country, but this was an attack on our government.
I told them that I was angry, and that even though I have been on this planet for 41 years, I did not quite know how to process this, so I did not expect my kids to know how to process this, either. We asked them how they felt and if they had any questions. We also told them that we still have hope in our country. There are more of us who believe in courage, kindness, and honesty than there are people like Trump. But they are the ones making all the noise right now. That is why it is even more important that we continue to stand up for our values. Things are messy today, and they have been for the past 4 years, because leadership has encouraged it. But we told our children that there are people who want things to get better, there are people who care, and we will stay on the right side of history.
So, my fellow Huskerboarders with children...how do you explain current events? What sort of conversations do you have with your family? Do you have any suggestions? Even if you don't have kids, how do you think you would try to make sense of this stuff? I am obviously on the liberal/progressive side, but I am also interested in how Republican voters explain things to your kids? How can you support Trump and still try to raise responsible children? What values and behavior do you model?
(TL/DR: just answer the thread title)
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