Dear Parents,
When your sweet child wakes up, how will you break the news to them about Trump being elected President. They were all pulling for Hillary, and I know this because I have been many schools hosting my political events using my newest book, Monster Mas Runs For President, and all the students would boo when they saw Donald Trump’s picture on my slide show presentation. But I won’t waste anymore time on this, because your kids will be up soon so here’s what I would say.
Parent: Good morning honey, what would you like for breakfast?
Child: Did Hillary win?
Parent: It was close, but Donald Trump is our new president. (Try not to sound too sad)
Child: (looks Very disappointed) why?
Parent: Honey, there is a lot more you need to learn about the political process, especially voting. I will love to teach you exactly what happened in this election, and go over possibilities of how things could’ve been different. But don’t worry about the President, let’s focus on ways we can improve our schools and community, and that’s dealing with our local politicians. After school, we can learn more about them, and maybe plan a visit to see where they work.
I want you to have a great day, and don’t be worried about Trump, he can’t do 95% of the things he says he’s going to do because our government has checks and balances to make sure we don’t have dictators.
Child: So why did people elect him?
Parent: Many reasons, but I think it had to do with our country being in a lot of debt, and politicians taking advantage of their positions, and not helping people the way they promised. (I would leave out terrorism, don’t want your child to be super scared, but end with this) But honey, remember you have the power to change the future, just make sure you always do your best and focus on education.
I know this doesn’t give all the ‘nitty-gritty’ details, but until we can fully teach children what’s going on, we can’t give them bits of pieces, and let their minds run wild. Remember that’s why we don’t show kids horror movies. Let’s just pretend to all be positive, but let’s make strides in educating our kids about politics, even if we have to learn it ourselves. I can tell you the majority of schools aren’t teaching in depth politics. I am pushing for this as I host events in schools teaching the importance of political education, and my children’s book focuses on the primaries, something that could’ve changed this outcome.
Thank you for raising and educating your amazing children.
Best,
Heather Arabadjis
Author of the Monster Mas Series
political education for kids