How do you explain this to your children?

[Ulty]

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)

[funhusker]

My kids are 11 also.  At the moment, they are totally oblivious to what happened yesterday.  They are doing remote learning this week so they are pretty insulated.   I'm still too pissed to talk about it rationally, maybe this weekend.  Hopefully some more clarity comes by the weekend to help explain.

 

But I have not been shy about pointing out stupid Tweets and comments from Trump.  More so to explain to them that they need to always research as close to the source as possible when forming opinions about things.  They should never rely on mob mentality and misinformation.  

 

I'll be following this thread, because the conversation is coming whether I like it or not...

[BigRedBuster]

Luckily, my kids are in their 20s and fairly well educated.  They all keep up with current events and politics but we do NOT consume radical media so, they are all pretty well level headed.

 

Last night, my 20 year old son and I watched the proceedings in congress and he had a lot of procedural questions....in between comments like......"why are people so dumb"?

[Cdog923]

I'm trying to figure out how to teach this to my high schoolers. 

[RedDenver]

I'm trying to distinguish between what we are as a people and what we aspire to be to my kids. It's always hard to tell them that people can do terrible things to each other.

 

This tweet kind of sums it up for me:

 

[Ulty]

One of the things I told my kids yesterday was that many leaders gain followers by appealing to their worst fears and prejudices, and then people follow and act without thinking. But we really need to make our choices based on what is right not just in our hearts, but by what is in our heads. 

[Moiraine]

How do I explain this to myself?

[Born N Bled Red]

The hardest thing about the Trump presidency is how to reconcile that people that I know to be otherwise good, upstanding people, people that I'd trust with my life and want in my kid's life, and their support of Trump - who espouses every value these people seem to eschew in their non-political life. My wife and I are very open minded. Our general course of action when educating our kids on how to interact with people who have differing views is to "keep and open mind," "remain civil," and "find common ground." 

 

I still struggle after years how to explain to my kids that a close family member is a strong, ardent supporter of that man and how my kids should/ shouldn't react. 

[TGHusker]

My 2 sons are all grown and have families of their own. They are level headed, deep thinkers and see through all of the trump crap.

 

But if they were young, I'd have a sit down civics & history lesson.  No need to fear. Our constitution has a remedy for situations like this.  We also have a history as a country to deal with these kinds of events.  Our country is stronger than one person or one party.  Our history tells us that we eventually come together as Americans.  The pendulum swing often happens after events like this and we tend to correct are mistakes and come out better on the other side.  Sometimes as a country we make a dumb mistake like voting in a Trump - just like we as individuals make a mistake.  But there is always an opportunity to fix that mistake and come out better.  Now it is up to the adults in govt to do just that.  I think Biden is the right guy for the task at this time - an elder statesman who can speak to this concern.  Let's hope others will listen - otherwise the fix will take longer.

 

 

[DevoHusker]

32 minutes ago, Born N Bled Red said:

The hardest thing about the Trump presidency is how to reconcile that people that I know to be otherwise good, upstanding people, people that I'd trust with my life and want in my kid's life, and their support of Trump - who espouses every value these people seem to eschew in their non-political life. My wife and I are very open minded. Our general course of action when educating our kids on how to interact with people who have differing views is to "keep and open mind," "remain civil," and "find common ground." 

 

I still struggle after years how to explain to my kids that a close family member is a strong, ardent supporter of that man and how my kids should/ shouldn't react. 

 

The good part is, if your people are like the people in my circle, they will be back to the normal, conservative folks that you want in your and your kids' lives, after Trump and his cohorts are not stoking the fires daily. 

[teachercd]

They are kids, not aliens.  If they have questions, answer them with what you really believe.

 

99% of kids won't give a s#!t.  I just saw 90 HS kids today, not one even mentioned it let alone asked me 'why"?

 

But I did find out one of my students mom made her delate TicTock from her phone. 

[Born N Bled Red]

Just now, DevoHusker said:

 

The good part is, if your people are like the people in my circle, they will be back to the normal, conservative folks that you want in your and your kids' lives, after Trump and his cohorts are not stoking the fires daily. 

 

I hope you are right- every time I turn on Fox, my fear grows that Trump is but a figurehead that will only be replaced.

[Stone Cold]

On 1/7/2021 at 3:08 PM, Born N Bled Red said:

 

I hope you are right- every time I turn on Fox, my fear grows that Trump is but a figurehead that will only be replaced.

You think trump a real estate mogul is the mastermind behind the republican party.

[Born N Bled Red]

14 hours ago, Stone Cold said:

You think trump a real estate mogul is the mastermind behind the republican party.

 

Mastermind behind the party, no- however his brazenness, overall lack of care about anyone other than himself, and willingness to embrace fringe extremist to formulate his coalition has definitely pulled out the absolute worst of the republican party and put it in plain view for all to see. The past 4 years has normalized this crazed behavior and style of leadership. My fear is that pandoras box has been opened,  and even if Trump is removed, it will not go back into that box.

 

The willingness Fox and even normal, everyday republicans have shown to bend and sacrifice core values in the name of power only enhances my concern that this will not pass with Trump.

[BigRedBuster]

14 hours ago, Stone Cold said:

You think trump a real estate mogul is the mastermind behind the republican party.

He obviously wasn't the mastermind behind the Republican party when it was started or for the first 150 or so years.  However, the party for the last 4 years as been the party of Trump.  They haven't cared about anything but supporting Trump.