Use Election Season to Teach Children About Democracy, Psychologist Advises
Translated & summarized from Kipa by baba
An Israeli psychologist, Dorrit Ben Gad, advises parents to use the current election season as an opportunity to educate children about democracy rather than shielding them from political discourse. She suggests explaining democratic processes, fostering respectful debate, and differentiating between people and their political opinions. Ben Gad also recommends mediating children's exposure to negative political content and using family discussions to teach critical thinking and the importance of voting.
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- Psychologist Dorrit Ben Gad recommends using election season to teach children about democracy.
- She advises parents to explain democratic processes and foster respectful political dialogue.
- Ben Gad suggests mediating children's exposure to negative political content and rhetoric.
- She emphasizes differentiating between people and their political opinions.
- The psychologist highlights the importance of teaching children about voting and critical thinking.
As election season intensifies with heated rhetoric and public disputes, an Israeli educational and medical psychologist, Dorrit Ben Gad, suggests parents should not shield children from politics but rather use the period as an educational opportunity. Ben Gad, affiliated with Maccabi in the Jerusalem district, explained that while adults may see political debates as part of the game, children might perceive them as a genuine threat to their stability. She advocates for adults to mediate these events for children, providing them with tools to understand and cope with the tense atmosphere.
Ben Gad recommends leveraging election periods to explain the principles of democracy, including concepts like coalition formation and the electoral threshold, to foster understanding and a sense of security and belonging in children. A significant challenge for parents is children's exposure to negative discourse, including harmful AI-generated videos and personal attacks between candidates. This, she suggests, is an opportunity to teach the difference between respectful and unacceptable dialogue, emphasizing that while disagreement is permissible, it should not devolve into animosity.
She advises explaining to children that differing political views do not render a person flawed or hateful, and that both sides generally desire what's best for the country, with disagreements stemming from the chosen paths. Ben Gad also addresses the dissonance children may experience when witnessing adult leaders engage in aggressive political tactics, contrasting it with parental admonishments against sibling squabbles. She stresses the importance of separating a person from their opinions, even when those opinions are strongly disagreed with, and not to conclude that someone is unintelligent or flawed based on their views.
When political discussions spill into family meals, Ben Gad suggests explaining to children that unlike support for a sports team, political matters have critical implications for life, justifying the heightened emotions. She encourages children to value opposing viewpoints as a sign of caring and to view demonstrations, even those against their own beliefs, as expressions of love for the country. While generally advising against children watching election news or propaganda, if they do, parents should mediate, clarify that differing parental political views are legitimate, and use it to develop critical thinking. Watching satire like "Eretz Nehederet" can also be a tool for discussing the accuracy or exaggeration of political portrayals.
Ultimately, Ben Gad concludes, the focus should be on a candidate's platform rather than personality. The election period offers a chance to explain the differences between candidates and, crucially, to impress upon children the importance of voting, the significant impact of each citizen in a democracy, and the parameters for making informed choices at the ballot box.