I know people with this perspective exist, because they’re all over this board. Surely not ALL of them have absolutely no kids or teens they care about in their life. Even if so, treat it as a hypothetical.
Based on what I’ve read, as mentioned above, I’m genuinely curious.
Why would you need to tell your kids your opinion/perspective of it? Like any kid growing up under any administration in history, they’ll manage to live their life.
It’s a 4-year administration, not a death sentence. I can’t imagine why anyone would feel “no hope for the future”.
I can’t imagine anyone would think the effects of this four years will only last four years. Public schools undermined? EPA weakened or eliminated? Minimum wage stalled? Millions of people lose health care coverage? And unless gerrymandering is corrected, the Dems may never control Congress again.
I don’t have any kids. Hell, my adult friends and I can’t even explain it to each other.
Why the hell would I burden my kid with that?
Kids need to be kids and since none of us know the future, it would be really bad parenting to dump all that negativity onto children.
Especially when nobody really knows what is going to happen or how bad it will be.
If most people couldn’t even correctly predict the results of the election, what makes anybody think they can predict the next four years and beyond?
If so many people were so out of touch with their fellow Americans that they couldn’t see it coming, why would anybody think their opinions are valid now?
Going around worrying about things that haven’t happened, and may never happen, is stupid as shit and passing that shit onto children is fucked up.
My kids are adults now, but I sat with them through Gulf War I, Gulf War II, 9/11, Bill Clinton’s impeachment, eight years of George W. Bush, the death of two of their grandparents, and untold amounts of personal shit.
Don’t dump your own problems on your kids. A parent’s job is to help them get through life, not make it worse for them.
The only people this would apply to IMO is immigrant parents whose children were born in the US. Aside from them, it won’t be ‘that’ bad for the rest of us.
It’ll suck yes, but it won’t be the end of the world.
Life in Trump’s America is still better than life in numerous other countries around the world.
Might want to look at this film
You have a duty to your child to help them become the very best they can be. There’s not going to be a one size fits all answer. Most children are uninterested in politics or religion, and to a degree keeping it out of their lives is fair.
I’d split it into three different major ideas.
If they are interested in politics, social policy or philosophy, you can talk about what Trump is doing and why it’s misguided. You can spin it as a way to learn about civics, learn about how government works and perhaps even about how to do something about it.
If they pick up on major events and news but don’t care about the details, you answer their questions. There are even things like the ‘sexual behavior’ talk that Trump will likely lead into: “Never grab a woman that way unless she asks”, etc.
If they don’t care at all, keep it out of the house and stay positive, as being positive makes living easier.
This too shall pass.
We know that. We’re just wondering what will be left after it passes.
Jim Crow lasted nearly a century; it’s not much consolation if something passes after having lasted your whole lifetime.
I’m trying to keep my chin up and soldier on. She doesn’t need to be told about this stuff yet. Truth is, she picks up way too much all on her own. If she asks questions I’ll answer, otherwise, our homelife is business as usual.
Perhaps then I’d have my kids talk to someone who lived through that era, to get some perspective.
If you are really that bummed out, you need professional help. There are elections every four years. Politicians come and politicians go. Some are better than others. Suck it up, buttercup.
Same as I would tell them under Obama or anyone else: Your life and your fate are your own. Be all you can be, and don’t trust to the government to make things what you want them to be.
There are people who expect to die because of this election; such as people dependent on Medicare to survive. They aren’t likely to be impressed by so-called “tough” speeches like that. Nor does the damage politicians do magically vanish when they leave office.
As for me, I don’t have any children and I’m glad; I don’t expect them to have a future worth living in. I’m not sure if I could make myself talk to them about it.
I’m reminded of this exchange:
“I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.
“So do I,” said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
If they come from a house that believes in God, let them know that God is and has always been in control and that God is the one who rules over all rulers, that this and every nation are nations under God’s authority. Trump is beholden to God and God will control Trump and God’s children will never be forsaken. Going further and if they don’t come from a household that lets them believe in God, I will ask/trach about universal laws such as karma, and the effects of a bad society and how to avoid the effects of negative karma of bad/evil rulership in a society. Finally state the checks and balances, of the US system which offer some protection and a lot of what Trump wants to do he can not legally do those things.
And yet, the world works as if there is no god at all. Fancy that.