Are your children less able to see through the shit

[MoseyWalker]

than you are?

Is this a result of a school system in which they are indoctrinated and inculcated with spew from an early age, and not allowed to truly get a good education in which they are capable of independent thought?

I have a son, who I love very much. He is not political, and doesn't want to learn history, or the probable results of todays battles.

What will happen to the next generation? Will they have the abilities and information to rise up?

[evlbstrd]

1. How old is your son?

I took my kids to with me to vote from birth. I always talked with them about history and politics. They are now 17 and 21 and solidly progressive/socialist. If they don't understand something about an issue, they ask me. For a long time, when they were younger, they would just roll their eyes and give me an "Oh, Dad." Now they see.

[MoseyWalker]

3. Son is 18

and spent most of his life in the primary custodial care of his mom, who is pretty, but dumb as a toenail.

[evlbstrd]

6. Bad combination.

Good luck.

[omega minimo]

9. You could try

not to make him sexist. That would be something.

[THUNDER HANDS]

11. dumb as a toenail

that made me laugh out loud.

[villager]

2. well, I've been talking politics to my sons since they were infants

though I wonder if they're sick of it by now? ;-)

But they were also lucky enough to go to a primary school that encouraged independent thought...

[tnlefty]

4. During the '99-'00 campaign season my oldest son (5th grade at the time)

seriously asked me if George Bush** was a fake, i.e., Pat Paulson (from Laugh-In fame). He was astounded to learn that Bush** wasn't a joke. We used Bushisms as supplemental language and grammar lessons and even the kindergartener at the time would scrunch his little face up because there was a terrible grammitical error or because what SFB was saying made no sense.

They're more serious now and think that BushCo** is off of its' rocker and it isn't a very comforting thought, BTW.

[Child_Of_Isis]

5. Mine is pretty hip to what is going on.

She can also detect bullshit pretty quickly.

[w8liftinglady]

7. my kids are on to the neo-cons...

My 9-year-old does a great * imitation..."My fellow americans..9/11...now where's my crack pipe?"

[Mind_your_head]

8. You can't teach them everything you know in one gulp....

slow down, back off, show restraint, show your son bit-by-bit, truth-by-truth.

You are your child's best/first educator. Even if your child is 'older', start presenting him/her with moral challenges/scenarios (kids are wise and usually *unjaded*), you will probably be happy with what you see within him/her. If not, GUIDE into a different way of thinking for him/her ~ of which he/she is free to accept or reject.

Just my 2 cents.

on edit: someone on DU called me an "old biddy" today, so perhaps I am. But then again, I've very successfully raised three children ON MY OWN w/o much financial support, and I'm Not in debt....so call me names all you want....just an 'ole biddy talkin' *damn*

[upi402]

10. Teens I talk to are knee-jerk conservatives =unexamined opinions

usually against anything liberal.

[MercutioATC]

12. My son's 15 and I have the same issue.

Luckily (though tragically) he's more cynical than I.

He doesn't buy the bullshit, but he doesn't have the motivation to look for the truth yet. I figure I have 2 more years to instill some motivation...

wish me luck

[conflictgirl]

13. My kids are still young, but so far they are VERY aware

When most kids are playing cops and robbers, my kids were 3 and 6 and pretending to be themselves as good guys vs. Bush and Cheney. :rofl:

My oldest is almost 9 and he actually blames Bush and Cheney for almost everything bad that happens in the world. LOL My husband and I discuss many political issues in front of the kids, and my oldest always wants us to explain the issue to him and we do. As a result he is very informed, more even than many adults I know. On election day in '04, he wore a t-shirt to school that said "I wouldn't vote for Bush if I were you." He was only a first grader and it was totally his idea to get the shirt and to wear it.

I am not naive enough to think that he'll always be this way. Right now, he certainly seems to be a liberal activist in training, but the teen years may either lead him to rebel or to become apathetic because politics aren't "cool." But I certainly hope these are values that will stick with all my kids!

[tinfoil tiaras]

14. Alot of the kids my age prefer to ignore it

and pretend like it isnt happening. Which is sad, imho. They don't want to talk about politics, but when they, i guess have to, they say stuff like "i don't really follow it so I don't really know anything". But on the good side, most of the supposedly repugs are liberals at heart (they say stuff like "i love gay people" or "i think wars are bad", etc).

but watching the news all the time 24/7 isnt good either. some time off is good, which is what summer camp is for me. time off from politics and news.

[blogslut]

15. I understand what you mean

about public/private education. Many of these "institutions" seem to care more about rules and order than they care about the students.

I once watched the school attendance clerk berate a elementary-aged girl because she was wearing a sleeveless top during winter.

Just one look at this girl told me she was poor and it was very likely that this top was the only top she had to wear that day. This attendance cow was trying to send the girl home for a fucking shirt! Not even a skimpy shirt! Merely sleeveless! That girl was in tears and that horrid woman was calling the mother on the phone. No answer. Duh! The girl was attending school in the only clothes she could manage to scrounge in her apparently unhappy life. How dare that damned attendance shrew jump on a child like that?

Oh, did I give that woman a piece of my mind!

But as for your kid: You do what you can. You give them the tools. What they do with those tools is their choice. Love them regardless.

[tinfoil tiaras]

17. Was this at a public school or a private school

because at my private school, we're not allowed to wear anything sleveless unless it has something over it. Usually at the public schools, you're allowed to wear sleveless stuff just as long as the straps are 3" or more wide.

That really sucks. The school should have made an exeption for her b/c she was poor. There are people like that bitchy lady at my school (especially in the middle school-i think the teachers get a bonus for each kid they send to detention for something stupid like no shirt tail tucked it-i was in detention for a WEEK for that...:mad: :mad:)

[blogslut]

19. Public

Don't get me wrong. I believe in public schools. I believe that we should provide a free educaton to every American as well as to the aliens that reside in our country.

Just the same, there is a lot that is wrong with public education.

I've felt that way since I attended public school in the 60's and 70's.

One of the best moments of being a mother was when I realized that I was the parent and I had the power to make my child's educators listen.

[tinfoil tiaras]

20. Yeah, because not everyone can afford to go to private school

or have smart parents to homeschool (and when i say this i don't mean the type of fundie homeschooling; i'm sure theres some non-fundie homeschooling out there) them. Many public schools just don't get the funding so the teachers aren't as good or well payed, etc.

That's so wierd that someone would act up like that in a public school. Usually when you think of strict, you think of private schools...:shrug:

[kineneb]

16. the teens with whom I work are great

they are onto the hypocrisy of BushCo, and are almost anarchists. They really believe the whole system is broken, and from their perspective, it is. They are, however, doubtful about the future. They go through the motions of preparing for an adult future, but one can tell they don't have a lot of hope that they will be better off than their parents' generation.

[lonestarnot]

18. My son is a wiseman.

[sueh]

21. Here's a way to look at this, MoseyWalker.

This is something that happens in every generation. Think back to when you were 18. Even if you were keenly interested in the political scene, you probably had classmates who were not. Same would be true for your son right now. If I haven't already, I'd ask him if he's been hit on by a recruiter at school? Has any of his classmates or friends "signed up"? Let us know how it goes.