Talking to Children and Teens About Elections and Government

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Even if we limit media, children learn about elections from radio, pop-up ads, classmates, and signage. They absorb attitudes and biases, often without context or information (or disinformation).

“It’s never too early to talk to your child about politics,” Hoyt Phillips, now with Learning for Justice, told PBS during the last presidential election. Political conversations allow children to understand your value system, decision-making, and voting.

When children ask parents about any current events, ask back “What have you heard?” and “What do you think?” Kids pick up on election stress and its strain on relationships. Hecklers interrupting a speaker. Assassination attempts and safety concerns. Charged verbs like “lie,” “stole,” “incited,” and “can’t be trusted,” which are often used in ads.

This language can trouble children, who need to be reminded of fundamental truths. Those are: most people are good and trustworthy, caution is smart for safety, careful choices work better than snap decisions, and helpers lend an ear to talk with or ask questions.

According to the Fred Rogers Institute: “In seasons of elections, it can be helpful to talk with children about what it means to discuss different ideas while still respecting those who disagree with us.”

Especially with the rancor and advertising attacks, it’s important to show how discussion and active listening aid problem-solving. Attack ads are meant to grab attention. They may be only part of what we need to know, or even be exaggerated to emphasize what is NOT helpful to know.

Children and teens benefit from understanding the questions you ask yourself, how you find needed answers, and how you determine the values that drive your political thinking. The values you impart to your kids reveal themselves in reactions they see from your own emotions and body language all year long.

Explaining Elections to Preschool Children “An election is a way for all the people in a community to decide who they want to be a leader, in their neighborhood or country. In the time leading up to an election, we get to learn about the different people who want to be leaders in a community,” according to the Fred Rogers Institute.

Fred Rogers was a huge proponent of reading with children, for the educational value but also for attachment and bonding.

In most years, titles reflect the candidates. My Little Golden Book About Kamala Harris as well as Penguin’s Who Is Kamala Harris were written before Ms. Harris became a presidential candidate; Donald Trump in the U.S. Presidents Series for school libraries is about the only kids’ biography available. V Is for Voting by Kate Farrell is in bookstores and is also available read aloud on YouTube.

This year’s election is history-making. But children can learn that other women blazed this trail, believing enough in themselves to run for office. Shirley Chisholm Dared: The Story of the First Black Woman in Congress by Alicia D. Williams and April Harrison is a picture book that takes youngsters from New York City to Barbados and back to the States where people were beginning to speak up for their rights. Through her actions, Shirley rebels against limitations and shows persistence by going to college, asking for jobs, and never taking no for an answer. She organizes after-school programs, rallies voters, and wins a seat on the New York State Assembly before doing the same to become the first African American woman elected to Congress.

Elementary-Age Conversations Allow kids to see you read about current events in newspapers, magazines, and books. Discuss meaningful historic events and share the emotional impact these had upon you or your family. To counter the rancor kids witness, focus instead on getting along.

“Children really do rely on us to set the tone, to be role models, and to help them know that it is important to us that they get along and accept each other as they are,” Fred Rogers once said. “They (children) certainly understand what it means to disagree. We can help children know and see that even in deep disagreement, we can respect each other.”

Books for this age/stage include Equality’s Call: The Story of Voting Rights in America by Deborah Diesen as well as Lillian’s Right to Vote: A Celebration of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by Jonah Winter.

Show children election actions by taking them to the polls to see a voting booth. Make that plan for election day and even initiate play surrounding elections.

While family members may have different ideas on what’s for dinner, make signs with crayons and paper trying to convince one another and take a vote if you cannot all agree. Keep it light and fun, modeling how to get along.

Another tangible teaching tool is Election Night: Learn Your Way to the White House, a game in which kids practice addition and multiplication on different sides of the game board. With the Electoral College looming large—and its complexity has challenged plenty of adults—this board game brings to life the strategy involved in gaining the necessary 270 votes to win the presidency as it reinforces basic math skills. CivicEducator.org ranked this among its ten top teaching tools regarding elections.

Teenage Rebellion, Especially With Politics Up until age 12 or 13 and beyond, children often parrot the political views of their parents. Enter puberty.

Preteens and adolescents often use politics as a means of defining or differentiating themselves. That means that their choices begin to veer away from their parents' choices. Grandparents, however, baby boomers defined by Vietnam and Watergate, may be able to gain a teen’s ear far more easily.

Key to this age is listening before sharing your own thoughts. And if you do share, incorporate history and culture and make it less personal. Share experiences that shaped your beliefs but avoid telling your teens what to believe. Understand the role of rebellion or a little pushback that is developmentally appropriate for this age.

So too, realize that adults are still powerful role models. If you’re too fired up about your politics, that anxiety or anger could make others uncomfortable, according to the American Psychological Association.

Frame your feelings in I-statements such as “Women’s rights are particularly important to me because I remember in the 1970s when a woman could not even obtain a credit card without the permission and signature of her husband.”

This type of explanation carries more understanding and educates about history, advocacy, hard work, and the struggle for acceptance that met with success. Since teens are so visual, the Hulu series Mrs. America is a gem to watch regarding the women’s movement, featuring pioneers such as Shirley Chisholm, Gloria Steinem, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg (who is the subject of a Little Golden Book for youngsters). That movement indeed made this 2024 election possible.

When it comes to election-season advertising, you can leverage teens' critical thinking ability and encourage them to ask deeper questions:

Who creates these advertising messages? Adults can point out that it’s not always the campaign but a PAC, or Political Action Committee, that pools contributions and spends funds for or against candidates, ballot initiatives, or legislation. How are ads trying to persuade me? What do these people want me to believe and what’s the context that could be missing when a sound-bite from one candidate is juxtaposed into the ad of another? And, where can we learn facts as opposed to opinions?

Finally, fun at this age may include games or trivia, but more so humor. Teens will gravitate to comedians, comedy skits, and impersonations, so use these as teachable moments to share your likes and dislikes, and even point out where something crosses a line.

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Talking to Children and Teens About Elections and Government

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