Kids Vote

I've never been very politically active or even aware, but this election I am really trying to pay more attention. I hate to admit that I've never even voted before and that now, as a 21 year old adult, I had to ask my mom how to even register. I don't want to talk politics here though, or even discuss my feelings about the presidential candidates; I want to share a story about the students in my class.

I teach second grade in inner-city Phoenix. We are a charter school, so we serve a pretty large area- any parents that want their children in our school are welcome to come no matter where they live. Every student at our school receives free lunch because of their low family income. It can be heartbreaking hearing about their home lives and realizing how sheltered I was as a child.

Today at recess a group of third graders asked their teacher, a good friend of mine, who she was planning on voting for in the upcoming election. Being a diplomat, she asked who they thought she should vote for and the students started debating the candidates back and forth. My second grade students and I started listening to the older kids as they discussed what they had heard about both McCain and Obama. It was surprising and pretty cool to hear the students talking about how their lives would be effected by the outcome of this election.

Eventually the conversation turned to immigration laws and how the presidential candidates were going to change or reform the laws and practices. My students began to join the conversation and started talking about how scared their family is of Joe Arpaio. They were under the impression that if Obama wins this election, their families will receive the paperwork they need to stay in this country and they won't have to "hide from Sheriff Joe" anymore.

It doesn't matter how I feel about Sheriff Joe, Obama, McCain, or even immigration laws. It was emotional listening to these children trying to make sense of the politics that are forcing their parents into hiding. They don't understand why they can't live freely in what they learn is the Home of the Free. There are no easy answers.

I talked to my students a little bit about voting and being good citizens, but I want to do a more in-depth political study with them. I hear that Nickolodeon has Kid's Vote online so I'll be doing some research there to guide our discussion. Any feelings on this topic?

Hope everyone is having a great day.

Oh- and my phone got stolen from Ross. Super lame. Call Ty if you need anything.