In response to the Nov. 1 editorial, “Bring your children into the voting process,” I did just that on election night. Our family tuned in to the broadcasts, cheering for our candidate as the results came in. We used our home computer and Internet access, too. My children excitedly clicked on the map of the United States asking questions such as “What’s the Electoral College?” “How come some states have more electoral votes than others?” and “Mom, how exactly do you vote?”
Before the night was out, my children were doing math computations and probabilities that were years away in their formal education. The cultural context offered teachable moments in civics, history, geography and political science. Notwithstanding, the most valuable moment of the night came as our family discussion centered upon which future elections would mark the first election my children would be eligible to vote. Their excitement upon learning they, too, have a political voice, freedom of expression and freedom of association was a poignant reminder of the freedoms we possess in America.
However, a painful point was driven home the day after getting the vote out. While I was doing my part to ensure democracy continues, a paraprofessional was shutting out the voices of America’s future as my child and fellow classmates were reprimanded and told to “stop talking politics” on the playground of their taxpayer-funded, government school.
Consequently, we may have gotten our vote out, but we, as Americans, need to come together, reclaim our land and ensure that the constitutional rights of political speech, free expression and free association of and for all persons – young or old – are protected and preserved. Our future truly depends upon upholding these fundamental freedoms for all.
Trish Dice
Snohomish
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