We Voted!
Today was a very special day. First off, it was Election Day; a very special day for our democratic society. It was even more special because my son, Heath, chose to come home from college to vote in person. It was his first National election he was eligible to vote in. He wanted us to go as a family. Of course, I was excited to have him home and I was proud he wanted to go together to vote. From a young age Heath always went in to vote with me before we went on to school and then would proudly wear his “I Voted” sticker into school. He was such a cool kindergartner!
This got me to thinking about how much our children learn about civic responsibility from their parents and other adult role models. Heath has always seen me take the ballot seriously and we even discussed the school board and judge candidates. I’m proud that Heath understands his role and civic responsibility in the local, college, state, national, and world communities he lives and belongs.
In doing a little studying on the topic I learned that, “Civic engagement during adolescence predicts adult volunteering and voting. Furthermore, civic engagement during adolescence can promote positive developmental outcomes, particularly for marginalized and at-risk youth” (Middaugh, Clark, & Ballard, 2017, Pediatrics, 140). This really got me thinking about the civics experiences we need to be giving our children and students. They need to be given opportunities for civic engagement. These need to be project-based so the students are actually engaged in real world community experiences.
Bottom-line: parents who involve kids in elections raise civic leaders! By involving our children and our students in civic engagement and exposing them to the voting process teaches them real-life lessons in democracy, and it helps show our communities and country that families matter and have a powerful voice.
Byron's Babbles 
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