Politics
Welcome to the “Raise Them Up” Podcast presented by The New Mexico Boys and Girls Ranches (The Ranches)
In today’s world, it is hard to avoid politics. With the current level of contention in the political world, and the ever increasing volume of young people making political stands, politics is harder than ever to avoid. Our current generation of young people have been raises to believe that their feelings and their opinions are valid and that they have influence over the adult in their life. They’re not wrong: young people have more influence than ever before.
While it is an attractive option to just make a “no politics” rule in our homes, this rule doesn’t apply to everywhere else the they go. School, church, social media and TV are all actively influencing our kids and helping to shape their opinions. That’s a whole lot easier when we back away and choose not to be a part of THEIR conversation.
While I have my own opinions and beliefs, this isn’t the place. I am just encouraging parents to embrace their own influence in their child’s life. Anything that we choose not to talk about with our kids becomes something that we are encouraging them to talk to others about. We can’t abdicate our role in our kids lives and then complain about those that chose to fill the void that we left.
So, how do we engage our kids about politics? We have to choose to be honest and know where we stand. For me, I try and take a hard look at the position opposite of mine so that I can present both side to my kids. I then explain where I fall on the subject. Once I’ve done that, I encourage them to do their own research and then come back to me so that we can discuss it. I also give them permission to disagree with me.
I have found that I can also use politics as an opportunity to take a look at the Biblical references to the subjects I am discussing, If I’m being honest, my kids have influenced my opinion on things as much as I’ve influenced theirs.
