Whether we realize it or not, to a certain extent, kids need to understand politics. If you haven’t had a political conversation with your kids recently, it’s probably about time. Because as much as we are exposed to the politics of our day as adults, it’s also most likely that our kids have been and will be exposed to multiple political influences throughout their childhood.
As parents. we have a unique opportunity to help shape and direct our children’s worldview, and much of that worldview will be closely tied to the choices they make politically for the rest of their lives.
So, how do you help your kids understand politics and the role that they play in our lives as Christians? Here are a few suggestions:
Discuss Politics with Your Kids
As a children’s pastor, its fun working in children’s ministry, because you can tell what kind of political discussions kids are having at home by how they speak about politics with their friends. And when I hear it, whether I agree or not, I’m encouraged that parents are taking the time to talk with their kids about these things, because they matter.
Our family has a fun practice we recently started called “Tuesday Talk”, where we take one subject or issue each week and discuss it together from a Biblical perspective. This past Tuesday’s topic (on Super Tuesday) was ‘Politics’. We had a great time watching the primary results come in and discussing the different candidates and what they stand for.
Define Important Political Terms
Understanding the political process, and that policy matters over personality, makes our job easier as parents. We get to help our kids identify and prioritize the different candidates and their positions on the issues.
It’s important that you help your kids understand the value of voting as well as important terms like democracy, capitalism, socialism, etc. Because regardless of your views on any of these things, they/ll be hearing these words, and they need to understand what they mean. And they especially need to understand what they mean from your perspective, not someone else’s. 🙂
Determine How Politics Compare with Scripture
What does the Bible have to say about the issues facing our nation? What things are most important to the heart of God that should also be most important to the heart of His children? These are important times and important questions that deserve to be answered for our children. And they most likely won’t be answered without some intentional conversations.
Sit down with your kids and an open Bible this week and discuss these things.
Our children will be the ones deciding our nation’s future and direction. The time to prepare them to stand for their values then is now.
Which of these three things could you prioritize with your children?
