A few days before the first round of legislative elections, how can you approach the topic of politics with children? Educational psychology professor Claire Leconte and children’s author Sophie Lamoureux offer their advice.
We think about children away from the political subject. Too “small” to understand, or outright worried. Maybe we even keep them away. After all, why mix them with “serious” topics, when they are still flooded with the lightness and spontaneity of childhood? In fact, they may be less alien than we think. “By the middle of kindergarten, children are asking questions about politics not as we understand them, but as they relate to their lives,” says Claire LeConte, professor emeritus of educational psychology. They know that the government makes decisions every day that affect them. Therefore, they can ask who decides that we will, for example, increase the price of goods in stores.” After the earthquake caused by the June 9 European elections, which saw the historic victory of the National Rally and the dissolution of the National Assembly, which was later decided by Emmanuel Macron, politics has energized many homes. Should we talk about it with children? What words to use? How to be as fair as possible?
Starting with what they experience
For Claire Leconte, it is important to initiate these if younger children (up to CP/CE1) do not ask questions. In this case, we do not touch the topic. For others, in practice, it is obvious that the idea is not to make political history and present the programs of each party. “You can talk about the topic from what the children see, from their everyday life,” the specialist clarifies. In this way, it can be said that the Minister of Economy decides to make some things more expensive, for example, to bring money into the state treasury.
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It is in this way that Sophie Lamoureux (1), former journalist, now children’s author, “engages” children on the subject, during workshops or in her works (How to talk to children about politics, The great odyssey of democracyor Politics in small steps). “I use their daily life and their questions. why don’t we let others decide for us? Why are there rich people and poor people? We can explain to them that politics and laws are the rules of the game, and if some people cheat, it doesn’t work. What you eat in the cafeteria is politics. What we can do or not do is politics.
I use their routines and their questions. why don’t we let others decide for us? Why are there rich people and poor people?
Sophie Lamoureux, children’s author
Children’s magazines such as My daily routine or any book on the topic are great resources for discussing politics as a family. “We can also take an interest in history and see that we have always asked ourselves the same questions,” continues Sophie Lamoureux. Ever since Greek and Roman antiquity, we have wondered what is the best system to organize ourselves among ourselves.”
It is also good to remember. a parent shouldn’t have the answer to everything. As a family we can then do research to find answers, learn how other countries work for example. “On specific topics,” adds the children’s author, “we can always look together for what arguments the opponents have on this same topic and discuss them. We are really talking. the idea is to have beliefs, not certainties.”
Initiate debate and critical thinking
During the elections, parents can also accompany their child(ren) to the polling station. We introduce them to the gesture, and they understand that “there is no such thing as a bad boy or a good boy, but one person we want and another we don’t want,” explains Claire Leconte, a teacher of educational psychology. Moreover, the specialist emphasizes, if the child asks who is the “bad boy”, it is important that the parent does not use this term when answering. “Words have meaning for kids,” he explains, “and the bad guy is the one who gets into fights at school. It is not evil here, but some people who have desires that others do not have.
There is no such thing as a “bad” or “good” person, just a person you want and a person you don’t want.
Claire Leconte, professor emeritus of educational psychology
With older kids, middle and high school students getting ready to vote, politics needs to be approached in more precise terms as we understand it as adults. “We can learn to engage in dialectics, to answer their questions with arguments,” comments Sophie Lamoureux. And how to do it objectively? Be fair in your word? For Claire Leconte, a parent doesn’t have to be neutral, “on the contrary, he has to make sure, otherwise the child will think that he is voting randomly and that will make him feel insecure. On the other hand, he can tell the child “you don’t have to act like me”. In the case of older children, in discussions that mix arguments and political positions, the parent may insist on their freedom to make their own choices; “it’s my decision, my choice, you can make yours.” Hence, an opportunity to initiate a debate, to develop critical thinking, to understand why others think differently and to respect them.
(1) Sophie Lamoureux is notably the author The great odyssey of democracy17 euros and Politics in small steps12.70 euros (Actes Sud junior), How to talk to children about politics (The Perched Baron), €9.99.
Source: Le Figaro
