Why Did None of Us Ever Have This Conversation with Our Parents?

“Son, sit down. We need to have a talk.”

“Gee, dad, I’m pretty busy right now. Could we talk later?”

“It’s important. Put down the video game paddle.”

“Fine, dad. What is it?”

“You’re becoming a man, now, so it’s time we talk about the—”

“Geez, dad. I’m almost 18. We had that talk like 6 years ago. Remember the puppets?”

“No, son, this is more important. We need to talk about the elephants and the donkeys.”

“…”

Seriously, why don’t parents ever sit down with their kids and talk to them about politics? Most of us grow up with only a vague idea of which political party, if any, our parents belong to. But wouldn’t it be nice to sit down and tell your kids why you believe the way you do? If parents cared even a little bit about their children’s political education, maybe we wouldn’t have to rely on news-channel pundits to spoon-feed us all our political information. Just a thought.

Comments

A Bunch of Roaches said…
Actually, my parents always talked to me about politics and their political beliefs. I think a lot of parents do, especially on election years.
November 3, 2008 at 6:55 PM
Unknown said…
My 12 year old sister is obsessed with the election this year. All she wants to do is talk politics and I can't figure out how it happened because my family has never been one to talk about politics, even in an election year. I'm very impressed with her enthusiasm and knowledge about the candidates and the issues. But I think she must be getting it from the media because a while ago she asked everyone at a family birthday party who they were voting for and everyone refused to answere the question except for me and Nathan. I can guarantee that our children will grow up talking about politics.
November 4, 2008 at 9:46 AM
Lizzy said…
My parents wouldn't even tell me what political party they belonged to. I figured out later it was because my Dad was a staunch Republican and my Mom a very liberal feminist Democrat and for peace in the house they declared the home a politics free zone.
November 4, 2008 at 12:16 PM
Brooke said…
We talk a lot of politics in my family, actually. However, I don't recall a moment when my parents sat me down and explained it all. I just learned as we went.
November 4, 2008 at 1:01 PM
The Kyles said…
though the typical two taboo subjects are religion and politics, I think I got an overdose of one and a famine of the other.
November 6, 2008 at 8:36 AM
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