Yesterday as I stood over an hour waiting to do early voting, I watched kids play around in line and even go behind the voting booth to watch their parents vote. Some were too young to even know what voting means, but it made me realize how we as parents have a lot to do with determining whether or not our children will vote.

I’m not sure if my mother has always voted, but if she did when I was growing up, I don’t remember her making a big deal of it. Of course if you grow up in a low income area, there are lots of people that don’t. It took a lot of convincing from a co-worker before I finally began to take advantage of my right.

I should have wanted to vote. If nothing else because of all of that women had to go through to earn the right. But when I was younger, I was pretty ignorant about a lot of things and without parents expressing the importance of voting, I was like many who didn’t. Of course a lot of people’s indifference and lack of enthusiasm stemmed from candidates who didn’t really reflect themselves. I’m sure that is why we will see the record turn out in this election. Because guess what? Our candidates are actually starting to reflect the diversity that America is made of.

I remember in school we had a mock election which was quite fun. However when my son and a friend of his went directly to the principal this year to ask if they could do one, they were denied. I’m not sure of the reasoning behind that one. What better way to teach kids about an election than to have one and allow them to have a say?

It’s not only the responsibility of the parent, but the school system and the government in general to get people of all ages involved to have the desire to help change the future of America. If nothing else, voting gives a sense of empowerment and a small piece of hope, that we can actually make the world a better place. Definitely something to get the kids interested in and help to give them a small piece of consciousness. Pass the voting torch

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