Engage to Change: A New Year’s Resolution to Talk Politics with Your Kids
It’s Up to Us to Fix our Politics
By: Lindsey Cormack, Associate Professor of Political Science at Stevens Institute of Technology; Sam Shoge, Civic Engagement Thought Leader and Partner at Rivers & Roads Consulting. An earlier version of this appeared in Sarah Vacchiano’s CivicEQ Substack, she is doing great work, check it out.
Instead of New Year’s resolutions to get more sleep or eat better, we propose a different kind of commitment for parents: to discuss politics with your children.
The upcoming 2024 presidential election will be the first national election for teenagers and young adults aged 17 to 21. Though some are registered to vote and have participated in midterm, state, or local elections, none of these young people have experienced a presidential election year with the possibility of influencing the outcome. While exciting, it’s concerning that any of our young people lack the foundational knowledge to navigate our political system, which is why it’s not surprising that they are the least likely age group to vote with just 25% of them participating in the 2022 midterms and 50% participating in the last presidential election.
Whereas 2020 had the highest youth voter turnout of all time, there are reasons to think 2024 will see a decline. We are no longer in the exceptional situation of a world in lockdown. The pandemic’s unique circumstances that led to increased political engagement, such as extended family time and widespread mail-in voting, have since faded, and 19 states have passed 34 laws to make voting more restrictive.
Much as we’d love a collective resolution to for our K-12 schools to do more to teach children about our system and how to participate in it through, the more realistic option is for parents to recognize that we are the first, last, and best option to bear the responsibility of raising civically capable children.
We should resolve to be mentors to our children about politics, to be the people they look up to for nuanced discussions and the ones they turn to with their political questions. No longer should politics be thought of as off-limits or impolite, political discussion should be encouraged. This is especially true if you don’t like politics as it’s going right now. If we are unwilling to do this work, we risk giving up this responsibility to online and social media outlets where swiping and scrolling replaces the give and take of discussion, places where misinformation thrives, where deep conversation is nearly impossible, and where the ricochets of algorithmic content supercharge shallow groupthink. None of that makes for a better politics.
Author generated via Midjourney
How can you resolve to talk about politics more with your kids? Start local, allow for political discussions in front of them and be sure check your negativity, when in doubt look for more information together, and finally show them how to register to vote.
As the adage goes, all politics is local. Presidential and political party priorities become easier to grasp when applied through the lenses of your own community. Having conversations around these topics makes politics a little less overwhelming and less controversial because you’re talking about real, relatable issues with your child. Resolve to reach out and meet your local representative together — local and state elected official will most likely want to get to know you too!
When you do have political conversations in front of or around them, try not to only air your negative opinions. It’s no wonder kids don’t lean into a system that they’ve heard is full of liars and cheats. Many people are in government to make things better — try to focus on that in a balanced way.
Don’t feel like you must know everything to talk about politics. We don’t know everything when we vote or do plenty of other things in lie, but we should all be willing to learn more. When talking about candidates with your kids, look up their stances together. When considering how a law might impact your household reach out to the relevant agency to ask. Be willing to do more and learn more and in turn your kids will get the message that this sort of engagement matters and be more likely to do the same.
And finally, if you’ve got kids who are newly eligible to vote show them how to register. Registration requirements vary by state, so make sure that you walk them through the process and remind them that they’ll have to re-register each time they move.
We know that voting and civic engagement are learned behaviors and are habit forming — those who vote as young adults tend to keep up the pattern over a lifetime. It’s up to us to show our children how to engage with politics, and this year is as good as any to get started on that work. Happy New Election Year!
