Some fifth and sixth graders have been running an election over at the elementary schools. They elected party nominees, developed platforms, made flyers, had conventions, press corps, campaign managers and a videographer. They prepared a debate between the two presidential candidates with moderators and a quiet audience of about 100. The moderators prepared insightful questions and the debaters answered each one thoughtfully and respectfully. It was cute. This is, of course, how we have taught our students American politics works and sure enough, they believed us.
It was impressive to see all the participants taking their jobs so seriously. Of course, they had some realization that there wasn’t a whole lot their sixth grade nominee could do about healthcare, Iraq or taxes. It felt…well, good. It felt like the way things should be. I think all the parents and teachers who attended wished as I did, that this could really be how things go every four years. Certainly, there were great differences in the two parties and their platforms, but there was an air of class and respectability to the one-hour debate session as well as the leafleting, conventions and signage of each party. The framers would have been pleased.
I had no interest in telling them that this was a rather distorted representation of how things really work, that it was sort of the Disney version of American politics, and in order to have full understanding they would have to take off the mouse ears and shove them down the throat of their opponents. Wise teachers protected them from this underbelly of political life. Next to their assigned vocabulary list of words like democracy, fairness and respectability, their teachers did not make them include robo-calling, innuendo, mud slinging, voter fraud, or dirty politics. It would have been like hiring a monkey to throw *** around in the art museum, I suppose.
I hope for these students, that the air of politics they breathe when voting in their first elections is as fresh as that in this crowded, hot, wonderfully engaged, seriously lively classroom. If things aren’t as they experienced in this mock debate, I hope they work like hell to pull it closer to the memory. We may need a few more cages for the monkeys, but it will be worth the expense. Congratulations, kids; and teachers, you’ve given their dendrites great and noble connections.
Nice one.
