Democracy is best taught by example. Studies show that the single greatest factor in whether or not you vote is whether or not your parents voted, and many leading activists point to their childhood experiences participating in democracy as the inspiration for their life’s work. This section has information on what you can do as a family to foster a respect for democracy and encourage your children to practice a lifetime of civic participation.

    

Your Goals

We encourage you to teach your children that true citizenship requires more than voting. People who embrace democracy:

• Contribute to the common good.
• Know their obligations as a citizen.
• Know and perform their duties as a citizen.
• Understand, exercise and protect their constitutional rights.
• Become knowledgeable about issues important to our town, state and country.
• Are active in their communities.
• Contribute their own ideas and voices to their communities.
• Consider careers in public service or non-profit sectors.
• Make informed voting decisions.
• Vote Early or on Election Day.
• Support the right of others to do these things as well.

 

Why It Should Be You:

Although Democracy North Carolina was successful recently in helping pass a Youth Pre-Registration Bill for 16- and 17-year olds, don’t depend on the schools to give your child a civic education. Not only is it a miniscule part of the North Carolina school curriculum, children need to understand that democracy is not a chapter in our history – it is a living, breathing concept vital to our way of life! Parents are, by far, the most important factor in helping children understand this. You are your child's first and most influential teacher of civic values, attitudes and ethical principles. Children also learn best by example — and you are in the best position to provide that example. Best of all, the activities we have suggested below can bring you together as a family and are great alternatives to sitting around and watching movies and television.

 

Family Habits to Develop

If you are serious about raising children who value democracy, here are some habits that experts recommend you incorporate into your family’s routine:

• Give your children a vote in family decisions whenever possible.
• Participate in the political system and volunteer for service projects. Include your child in appropriate activities, such as manning a voter registration table.
• Show your interest in civic affairs and include your child in conversations about what’s happening in the world.
• Demonstrate the value of contributing to the common good of the family by requiring children to perform regular chores.
• Provide books, magazines, newspapers and other resources that offer opportunities to discuss political issues and different ethical or moral views.
• Keep track of what they learn in school about the responsibilities of citizenship and democracy. Reinforce these lessons at home.
• Read to your child from books that promote responsibility, good citizenship, making a difference, activism and teamwork.

 

Fun Activities

Here are some other things you can do to introduce the concept of government to your child and to educate them on the role and responsibilities of citizens:

• One of the easiest things you can do is make your family part of the Democracy North Carolina family! Several times a year, we participate in parades and rallies and other events that are perfect for children to take part in. Sign up for our newsletter to be notified of these events.
• Attend local festivals and check out the tents maintained by political parties, non-profit groups and political action committees. Take the opportunity to point out that people have different priorities and opinions – and that in a democracy, people respect other people’s opinions, even if they don’t agree with them.
• Help your child take photographs of your town for an on-line or printed book about “Our Freedoms” or “The Citizens of [Your Town].” Use the book to discuss diversity, equality, poverty and related issues.
• Take a driving tour of different neighborhoods in your town and use the trip as a chance to discuss the idea that people are often different in how they look, where they come from, that they may have different incomes — and different opportunities as a result — and that they may have different needs, depending on their age. Then explain that, regardless of these differences, they all have equal rights as citizens.
• Attend city council meetings, county commissioner meetings, school board meetings, zoning board meetings and court sessions with your child. Make sure they understand that ordinary people are standing up to speak vs. other people in the room who have been elected to be leaders.
• Visit historical museums, monuments, and/or national parks for weekends or longer vacations and discuss what part in democracy each place played. We’ve listed a few suggestions in this section below!
• Take a tax tour as you drive to and from school or other places, and have your child guess what services and facilities are being paid for by tax dollars. Use this opportunity to explain to your child what taxes are, why people pay them and what benefits they receive in return. Be sure to include the library, police and fire services, public schools, prisons, roads, garbage pick-up, city parks, etc.
• Use a driving tour to play a game based on guessing whether a building or other facility is owned by the public (paid for by taxes) or is a private property (owned by an individual or groups of individuals). Use this distinction as a basis to discuss how people quite naturally act in their own best interests but that government is different: it is supposed to act in the public good and do what’s best for all the people.
• Sponsor a local candidate reception at your house and have your child help you plan the event and invite neighbors to come. Let your child introduce the candidate to others.
• Schedule a field trip to one or more of the following: the Mayor’s office, your congressional representative’s office, the Board of Elections, County Commissioners Chambers, District Court, City Hall or the Chamber of Commerce.
• Create an imaginary town budget. Once you learn about basic government services, give your child a set amount to spend on these services and help them divide the money up. Create a pie chart to show their spending priorities.
• Hold a family referendum or election, even on something as simple as whether to order pizza or fried chicken for dinner. Prepare ballots and use a special Family Voting Box and hold an election to determine what the family will do. Use this technique to illustrate that people vote on policies as well as candidates.
• Read letters to the editor, newspaper articles, campaign websites and campaign materials together, then help your child identify the issues most important to your town right now as well as the individuals or groups affected by each issue. Compare what different stances are on each issue.
• Have your child choose a local issue important to them and help them decide what they think should be done about it. Have them write a letter to the editor of the local newspaper. Be sure they sign their age with their name as that may encourage the editor to print it. Send the letter in. Use checking for the letter as an excuse for reading more letters to the editor and discussing the idea of different viewpoints and opinions.
• Actually read America’s founding documents: the Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. Discuss the things your child can do today because of these principles.
• Hold a discussion on what citizenship means, including what the rights and responsibilities of citizens are. You can use the Constitution as a starting point and translate these broader rights into specific, more personal rights. Have your child write down the ways he or she has been a good citizenship. For example, they recycled, collected items for needy people, refused to fight with someone, followed traffic or safety rules, etc.
• Have your child interview a veteran, immigrant or older person who can answer questions about how they feel about America, what being a citizen means to them, their personal experiences with the changing rights of citizens in America, etc. Your child can write and/or draw about what they learned and prepare a special book on their new friend.
• Read stories about extraordinary Americans together, especially ones about ordinary people who made a difference.

 

Election Year Activities

Major election years can stay in a child’s memory for life. Make these years ones in which your child doesn’t just observe, but participates. Here are some suggested activities:

• Get out a map and plan an imaginary virtual "whistle stop" campaign train trip across the United States. Have your child pretend to be the Presidential candidate and create slogans, songs and speeches. Measure the time and distance it would take him or her to make the trip.
• Create a new political party: Choose a name and mascot, identify the important issues to that party and write up a platform of what the party wants for America.
• Create a presidential or mayoral diary: Have your child pretend to be President and write a day’s worth of entries that explore the duties and responsibilities of the President or Mayor. Or create an If I Were book and have your child write about what they would do if they were President or Mayor.
• Design the perfect President or Mayor. Decide what their qualifications and experience should be as well as the personality traits they need to be successful. Write a job description and a newspaper article about them.
• Be a campaign manager for the day. Help your child choose a city and select a candidate. Let them decide when the candidate will appear, who they will appear with, who to invite, how to handle the media and what the candidate will say to best reach that city's potential voters.
• Read or listen to classic political speeches together, then discuss the difference between logical argument and emotional appeal. Discuss when each technique is effective and appropriate as well as when they might not be so effective or appropriate.
• Develop a GOTV strategy. Encourage your child to come up with ideas on how to get more people to vote and write up an action plan. Your local board of elections website can often give you voter turn-out information on a precinct level so you can localize your strategy.
• Make homemade campaign buttons to wear. They can be as simple as construc­tion paper buttons. Let them decorate the button to reflect their opinion on an issue or candidate.
• Take your children with you when you participate in election year activities. For example, when you register voters, having kids along can create a friendly, family atmosphere at your registration table.
• Be sure to take your child with you when you go to vote! They are allowed to enter the poll with you and you can explain what you are doing and why. They may even be able to vote in a special mock election of their own if Kids Voting NC is active in your area.

 

Basic Election Principles to Teach

It’s very easy for children to watch television commercials or media coverage and come away believing that an election means two people fighting over who is going to win.

Help your child understand that elections are the building blocks of democracy and are on-going events with specific rules of participation. Teach them that:

 

• Elections are when people get to vote and select the person they want to lead their town, state or country.
• In our country, we have local, state and national elections and officials. (Examples: Mayor; Governor; President)
• People who run for office are called candidates.
• Voters pick the candidate with the ideas they like best and vote for them.
• The process of getting a candidate elected is called a campaign.
• Most people who work on a campaign are volunteers.
• Candidates have different ideas about how to run their communities, what problems are most important and how best to solve them.
• A candidate’s ideas are called his or her platform.
• Volunteers and people who support a candidate often wear buttons and put up yard signs to show other people their support.
• Each person gets only one vote per office.
• A person uses a ballot to vote on Election Day.
• The candidate who receives the most votes is the winner of the election. (Presidential election = Electoral College) Sometimes a run-off is needed if there are more than two candidates and no one gets a majority of votes.
• The winner thanks people for voting for him or her and helping with their campaign.
• Candidates not elected congratulate the winner and agree to work with him or her to help their community. 

 

Five Great Family Outings

As one of the thirteen original colonies, North Carolina offers a lot of opportunities for short family trips that can lay the groundwork for a lifetime of appreciating government and the struggle for democracy. Here are a few suggestions:

 

• Raleigh: Visiting the State Capitol Building is a great way to introduce the concept of state government. After that, a trip to the nearby General Assembly Building at 16 West Jones Street, especially when the legislature is in session, is a fantastic way for young people to view the intersection of government and citizens firsthand. The building is open to the public and anyone can walk around the complex and watch state representatives at work. Or you can watch a session in action from the public gallery. If you want your children to meet their representatives, be sure to make an appointment beforehand so they are there. Learn more about Raleigh as a destination.
• Edenton: Edenton was our state’s first colonial capital, incorporated in 1722. It has a large historic district and touring it is a great opportunity to discuss how government in the United States evolved from colonies to its state-based structure of today. If you take Highway 17 South from there, you can visit Tryon Palace in New Bern, built between 1767 and 1770, and the first permanent capital of North Carolina. Finally, about 90 miles from New Bern, you can visit Halifax where, way back on April 12, 1776, NC’s Fourth Provincial Congress unanimously adopted the Halifax Resolves, which called for independence from England – making NC home to the very first official call for American independence as a nation!  Find out more about Edenton.
• Wilmington: If you want to teach your kids that one of the functions of government is protecting the country and its citizens, visit Wilmington and board the battleship the USS North Carolina, where you can explore multiple decks and imagine life as a crew member during World War II. Just up the road is Ft. Fisher, a traditional protector of access to the port of Wilmington, including during the Civil War when Confederate armies fought there to keep the port open to blockade runners supplying goods to their army. Discussing the Civil War is a good opportunity to explain the difference between our nation and an individual state. Find out more about Wilmington.  
• Spencer: This small NC town is home to the N.C. Transportation Museum, where visitors can view milestones in transportation, such as an authentic train depot, antique automobiles and 25 locomotives. Visiting the Transportation Museum is a good way to discuss the role government plays in people’s lives by building and maintaining roads, bridges, tunnels, highways and other transportation infrastructure, then making sure these transportation resources are safe. Learn more about the N.C. Transportation Museum.
• Midland: Midland is home to the Reed Gold Mine, site of the very first documented gold find in the entire United States. The mine recovered gold worth over one million dollars a year for years. Visiting it can spark a discussion about how the government is in charge of the nation’s monetary supply, why dollar bills and coins have value and what they represent and how the government tries to promote economic health.  Learn more about the Reed Gold Mine.