Two toddlers meet in the sandbox. One is wearing a "Bush is my man" t-shirt, while the other has on a "Mommy and me love Hilary" onesie. I think it's unlikely this will degenerate into a discussion about how we don't bite kids with different political beliefs than our own, because these kids are probably less aware they are advertising for political candidates. And it's an intertesting issue raised in this CNN article: Is there anything wrong with "party training" your kids? One therapist says, "It seems cute and benign. However, the more I think about it, the
more it fails to pass my cringe test. It seems that we're bombarded
enough by constant advertising, so why should children become the
canvas for any ad?... Do we really want to see kids in this role?"
Parents defend the onesies and political slogan tees by saying they are passing on their values to their kids. But I'll be honest, even beyond political outfits at a certain level it makes me uncomfortable too. Something about children parroting political beliefs they don't even understand feels like mindless indoctrination to me. If you feel okay with this, imagine a young child espousing the opinions of the side you disagree with.
However, I'd hate to raise a child with no awareness of the issues of the day just because I was anxious about making her a propaganda billboard. In our house we do talk about issues we consider social justice--like gay marriage or racial discrimination--and we most certainly explain our beliefs on this to our child, that feels like passing on basic values to me. We try and avoid being dogmatic about political candidates, and most of the time we fail miserably.
Am I the only one who has even thinks this is an issue, and how do you draw lines?
