Mother's Notes: Political Indoctrination
As most of us know, the shaping of a child’s mind begins at home. It begins by deciding which books, toys, television shows, music and other forms of media are in their lives. As they age, you learn their preferences and realize that sometimes they are being shaped by outside influences. Also, the ideas of right or wrong, moral code, religion (or not), and social norms. Granted after the birth of my sons, our goal was the same, but for me, where politics are an obsession, civics, political thought and perspective are a large part of raising my sons. Politics, like other parts of life, are important in the kind of world citizens that I want to raise for the next generation. I plan to accomplish this goal by teaching them to question everything. (So far the 9 year-old appears to have this skill mastered. The 10 year-old always appears deep in thought, as he is keeping his question to himself and answering them on his own.)
Both of my sons are in elementary school and are currently learning American History and some Civics. Hooray! Something I love talking about! Finally, conversations that I would love to have with them! (For many of you, experiencing Common Core in your schools, you know that it gets a little boring explaining multiple ways to express 2 x 2.) As they bring homework or projects (the 10 year-old is Abraham Lincoln for a “wax museum” project which includes making a costume!) home in this area, I can’t wait and see if they need my help. I am so excited to show off to my sons on how smart their mother is with American politics and history. When they ask a question, I explain so much more than what they asked. I could lie and say that they are eager to listen and ask for more, but I won’t. Instead, they repeat the question, something like, “Mom, I just want to know when Abraham Lincoln was born!” Oh, so much for my ten minute lecture on why the Civil War couldn’t be avoided, no matter what Lincoln would have done.
In kindergarten and first grade, they learned about the Pilgrims and Native Americans. I would go along with what the school was teaching, not really inputting my analysis or opinion on the whole colonization era. (Though every year since, I kind of hint that maybe in retrospect the arrival of the Pilgrims meant doom and despair to the Native Americans.). Also about this time, they began to learn about Presidents even more. In kindergarten, it seemed that George Washington was their favorite President only because he was a hero and the first President. By second grade, Abraham Lincoln became their favorite President for two reasons: One- they learned in school that Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves. Two- I told them, when they were in first and second grade, that George Washington owned slaves, so that was that. In my defense, I explained that even though slavery was evil, and he should have been braver in fighting for freedom for everyone, we should still celebrate the accomplishments that he made for our country. I don’t think that moved them at all. To them, owning another human being seemed just unforgivable.
Another American historical figure that they have learned about since pre-school is Martin Luther King, Jr. The joy that I felt when they began bringing home coloring sheet with the words: “I Have A Dream”. One of my American heroes that I happen to know a great deal about. The biggest lesson from him is that he stood for social justice. This past Martin Luther King day, I actually had them listen to his Blank Check speech. They know that he is the “brown” guy who helped Black Americans fight for equality. For practical reasons, my children are just now learning about the multiple races and ethnicities, but they still only describe people as dark brown, brown, light brown (Abuelita), tan, and peach (me and them). We are working on the “correct” phrasing for ancestry and physical characteristics, but it seems like I am taking away some level of innocence from them. Also, my family is made up of a healthy mixture of race and ethnicity and so I think it is confusing for them to consider some of their cousins as this and themselves as that. So be it, now it’s just one human family. I always like to point out that King also was pro-peace and pro-worker (of all colors). I make sure I put in the struggle for class in my little lectures to them. Again, maybe with hope, they soak a little in their growing brains.
And there lies the challenge, a growing brain, even at 9 and 10, is a just a temptation to want to fill it for what you think is right and moral. But I know that the best course would be to only supply the information and only give your opinion when they ask. Does it always happen? Not even close. I mean politics is what I fall asleep thinking about. Let’s take the 2016 election, there is no way that my sons would not be able to ignore their mother’s opinion on Trump. In June 2016, we were at a restaurant where the news was on TV, which was playing one of his rally speeches. The now 9 year-old asked, “Mommy, do you want that guy to be President?” I snapped, “NO!” He laughed and asked why, and I told him, “Because he doesn’t like brown people.” Having listened to his speeches prior to that, I told them the truth. Unfortunately, I shared that story on social media because I thought it was funny. Not to get into the whole story, but an extended family member stated that it was like a “skinhead telling their child that Barack Obama hates white people.” What the…? (Personal note: I shamefully admit that I curse in front of my children, especially when ranting about politics. I can’t help it, I am just passionate and verbally expressive.) Anyway, I fully disagreed with this statement for many reasons that I am not going to get into, except that I and President Obama are half white so that chances of a skinhead being half Latinx or African are next to nothing. So her analogy was way off just on that point from the beginning. Ok, anyway, after I calmed down many weeks later, I questioned myself. Am I raising independent thinkers if I tell them what I think? Is is right for me to politically indoctrinate them?
The answer is YES! If they see their parents actively involved in democracy, then my children are more likely to be involved. If they see and hear their mother speak out, then most likely they will speak out. (Again, the 9 year-old seems to have this down.) Every election, we (my husband and I) take them with us to vote. In October, we took them to campaign for our Democratic US Representative, Bill Foster, US Senator Tammy Duckworth, and other state and local Democrats, by knocking on doors. I hope it has a positive lasting effect on them, so as long as our democracy survives. Even if it doesn’t, I hope they are never afraid to speak up (again, the 9 year-old not a problem). When Donald Trump won the Presidency, the 9 year-old asked, “How did Trump win if he’s mean and makes fun of people?” I only could answer, “I don’t know.”
As far as indoctrinating them in a liberal/progressive viewpoints, well, as their mother, they will learn and hear those viewpoints. But eventually, they will decide what they believe when they meet people from other walks of life. All I can do is be open to discuss this with them when they have questions or comments. On some issues they are actually ahead or different from my views. Take the environment, they seem to learn a great deal from public school. HOORAY for teachers and educators for teaching about the environment! They know about climate change, pollution rates and the importance of recycling. As a side note, I really believe that children are natural environmentalist. So I need to get better at it, so they keep it up. One issue that they are learning a “conservative” perspective is on drugs and alcohol. Actually, they are driving me crazy every time I have a beer or glass of wine. “Is that alcohol?” “Isn’t that bad for your brain?” My responses are usually, “Yes, it is bad for a growing brain like yours, but that’s why you wait until you are 21 to drink.” and “Everything in moderation. Like if you eat a little candy, it’s ok, but a lot makes you sick and not good for your health.” Those usually shut them up until the next time I have a drink. Good news is that I have been drinking less, maybe once a month.
Back to the subject at hand, the real reason why I stopped questioning the wrong or right of the political indoctrination of my children is because I saw children at Donald Trump rallies, before and after the election, wearing “MAGA” hats and t-shirts. You gotta be kidding me? Then the last straw was when I saw children at CPAC. Conservatives (aka regressives) take their children to CPAC? And I, with a Masters in Political and Justice Studies, was questioning my parenting about politics! Well, if they can raise their children in darkness than I can raise my children to crawl out of the tunnel. I will teach them facts and my analysis, but encourage them by asking, “Well, what do you think?” Teaching them my political views is no different than teaching them about anything else. As the years begin to go by faster and faster, I feel that as long as I raise my sons to be as compassionate as Mother Theresa, a peacemaker like Gandhi, and a thinker like Thomas Jefferson, well I’ve done my job. Or maybe they just end up like a mechanical engineer like their father, which is still a good thing.
O.K, that’s it. I am taking my children to the next Will County Progressive’s meeting.
