Hillary's deal is Trumped...

Whatever...

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jahnocli
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Hillary's deal is Trumped...

Post by jahnocli »

So, you mad Yanks are going to have Donald Trump as president. I'm sorry, what was the question again?
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Greenlaw
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Re: Hillary's deal is Trumped...

Post by Greenlaw »

My 10 year old daughter cried herself to sleep on election night and woke up crying the next morning. We let her stay home yesterday because she didn't want to be crying at school. She's scared that some of her friends will be sent away and fearful for the future of the environment. :cry:

I felt very helpless about it but I made this comic yesterday to help cheer her up: Brudders Episode 83
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synthsin75
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Re: Hillary's deal is Trumped...

Post by synthsin75 »

Wow, a ten year old that invested in politics must take a lot of indoctrinating from the parents or teachers. IMO, children shouldn't have to worry about politics.
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Greenlaw
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Re: Hillary's deal is Trumped...

Post by Greenlaw »

I take it you haven't been around very many 10 year olds. :)

Ever since I became a dad, what I've observed is that kids today are far more aware of their world than I was at that age. I think many kids are more thoughtful than even their parents are. (Myself included.)

(BTW, when I was 10, I was getting all my 'world news' from MAD magazine. Hmm...maybe that explains a lot about me.)

Anyway, my feeling is that a parent's job is not so much to shelter children from knowledge that will affect their lives in the future but to guide them through it so they can understand their world and hopefully learn to make their own critical and informed decisions when they come of age.

That and draw silly cartoons for them.
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synthsin75
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Re: Hillary's deal is Trumped...

Post by synthsin75 »

Yeah, there's been a change, and there has to be a reason for it. Children are more aware of the world, but that alone doesn't explain interest in politics. Children do not get each other interested in politics. So it has to be parents, teachers, celebrities, or some other adult influence. Children have always liked to act like adults...but nowadays adults are very busy making politics an adult virtue.
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Greenlaw
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Re: Hillary's deal is Trumped...

Post by Greenlaw »

Maybe. I just know that my own child is very inquisitive and she'll try to insert herself into every 'grown up' discussion around her. I don't want to discourage her curiosity but, TBH, it can get kinda maddening at times. :)
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Re: Hillary's deal is Trumped...

Post by Víctor Paredes »

Actually, I think it's a virtue for kids to know and care about the world where they live.
I totally agree with you, Dennis.
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synthsin75
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Re: Hillary's deal is Trumped...

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Greenlaw wrote:Maybe. I just know that my own child is very inquisitive and she'll try to insert herself into every 'grown up' discussion around her.
An only child?
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Greenlaw
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Re: Hillary's deal is Trumped...

Post by Greenlaw »

Yes, as is my wife. But I don't think that's necessarily it. Some of my daughter's friends are the same way and they may be in bigger families.

I'm one of three siblings myself. Looking back at my own childhood, I wish more adults had spoken to me as an adult. Not getting adequate answers about things I was concerned about just made me suspicious of anybody who was older than me, and more likely to circumvent 'voices of authority'. (I eventually grew out of that phase--now I'm properly suspicious of everybody.) :)
Last edited by Greenlaw on Thu Nov 10, 2016 10:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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synthsin75
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Re: Hillary's deal is Trumped...

Post by synthsin75 »

Greenlaw wrote:Yes, as is my wife. But I don't think that's necessarily it. Some of my daughter's friends are the same way and they may be in bigger families.
An only child is typically more dependent and engaged with adults. I would assume the larger families may actively indoctrinate their children. Somehow it's become anathema to religiously indoctrinate your kids, unless that religion is a political agenda.

Regardless, it can't be healthy for any child to cry themselves to sleep and wake up crying. That denotes a level of fixation that is not normal.
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Greenlaw
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Re: Hillary's deal is Trumped...

Post by Greenlaw »

I agree with you, crying to sleep is not healthy but it's definitely not the norm for her. What hasn't been normal is how intensely negative and bleak our social climate has become, and many children have great concerns about what's going on. Teachers and other parents we know have noticed this for months. I think pretending children are not interested in politics and how it affects their family and community is doing them a great disservice.

I'm not saying every child has a curiosity about the 'outside' world and, certainly, complicated information should be provided in an age appropriate manner. Every child is unique, and it's the parent's or guardian's responsibility to be flexible and adapt to the child's needs, and guide them into a productive adulthood.

BTW, she got over the crying yesterday. When I got home from work, she asked both me and my wife "what can we do to make people less angry and start being good to each other." I have to admit, I didn't have any good answers for her but this started a healthy discussion about art projects we could do together to help raise awareness. (We're a family of artists so that's all we got.) :)
Last edited by Greenlaw on Thu Nov 10, 2016 10:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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synthsin75
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Re: Hillary's deal is Trumped...

Post by synthsin75 »

Greenlaw wrote:I agree with you, crying to sleep is not healthy but it's definitely not the norm for her. What hasn't been normal is how intensely negative and bleak our social climate has become, and many children have great concerns about what's going on. Teachers and other parents we know have noticed this for months. I think pretending children are not interested in politics and how it affects their family and community is doing them a great disservice.

I'm not saying every child has a curiosity about the 'outside' world and, certainly, complicated information should be provided in an age appropriate manner. Every child is unique, and it's the parent or guardian's responsibility to be flexible and adapt to the child's needs, and guide them into a productive adulthood.

BTW, she got over the crying yesterday. When I got home from work, she asked both me and my wife "what can we do to make people less angry and start being good to each other." I have to admit, I didn't have any good answers for her but this started a healthy discussion about art projects we could do together to help raise awareness. (We're a family of artists so that's all we got.) :)
I completely agree about the negative social climate. And social media/internet probably has a lot to do with both the influence on children and the severity of the negativity, since it further polarizes already differing views. Parent's choice of what news and media their kids have access to, and in what quantity, could be a large factor. Many parents seem to let their children view the same entertainment/media they do, without sufficient regard for how emotionally ill-equipped they are to deal with adult concerns.

It's laudable to expose children to the real world, if they are emotionally prepared to deal with what they find. They need to have an internal compass they can consult when things appear bleak. Sadly, not many adults nowadays seem to be offering a sense of perspective and proportion. It can't be easy for a child to cope with constantly hearing the world is about to end, whether from a political outcome, war, or the environment.

Glad to hear she's recovered. Hopefully the experience provides her with her own sense of perspective...that's it's rarely as bad as most people make it out to be (either way it turned out).
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Greenlaw
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Re: Hillary's deal is Trumped...

Post by Greenlaw »

Here's a story of how the elections affected my daughter personally:

We live in a culturally diverse neighborhood and people are generally very friendly around here. In past elections seasons you'd see a healthy mix of signs for different candidates, parties and issues,and nobody gave the different views expressed any extra thought. But this season our neighborhood was nearly devoid of political signs.

But my daughter did notice a few signs and asked if she could make one of her own. I had small reservations about it because of the vandalism I heard about in other parts of the country but my wife was more encouraging.

So, my daughter made her own sign out of discarded cardboard, paint and construction paper, and she decorated it with many drawings of happy cats. The sign mentioned Clinton but that's beside the point--the emphasis of her sign was clearly on a 'Hooray for cats!' theme and she was very proud of her sign.

Unfortunately, within the hour, somebody stole the sign.

Personally, I wasn't too surprised that this happened but I thought it was bizarre that somebody in our neighborhood was angry enough to remove a sign that was very obviously created by a young child. This was very disappointing to all of us because we really like our neighbors and respect their opinions. But apparently, there was somebody out there that specifically disapproved of my child's opinion and acted to deny her right to express it.

My wife replaced it with her own hand-crafted sign which simply said "You can steal our sign but you can't take away our vote." This one apparently met with the thief's approval because it survived the rest of the season.

I still find it hard to imagine somebody in our neighborhood did this. I'm more inclined to believe the vandal was from elsewhere and just happened to be driving through.

Or, maybe it was an art thief who had a thing for 'happy cats'. A cat burglar perhaps? :)
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Re: Hillary's deal is Trumped...

Post by dkwroot »

jahnocli wrote:So, you mad Yanks are going to have Donald Trump as president. I'm sorry, what was the question again?
How's Brexit going, btw? :lol: :wink:
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Re: Hillary's deal is Trumped...

Post by synthsin75 »

Sorry for your daughter, Dennis, but that sounds like a good real-world teachable moment. While no one should be stolen from, it does happen, and children should learn that when you express yourself publicly or to strangers, you do stand the chance of someone reacting badly. We have freedom of speech, but no freedom from offense. And that includes someone taking what you've said in a way you didn't intend and offending you in return.

Personally, I wouldn't want my ten year old putting themselves out there just yet, but most things can become teaching moments if looked at the right way.
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