By Aswad Walker
This shouldn’t be a mystery. Kids are excited and hyped about things that allow them to see themselves in it, and that they see as something in it for them.
That said, here are five things we can do immediately to get the young people in our lives fired up about politics.
USE CHILDREN’S MUSEUM MODEL
Children love Houston’s Children’s Museum. And one of the reasons is, youth get to see themselves doing “grownfolk” stuff. That museum has stations where youth run a grocery store, fly planes, etc. We need to apply that concept to political/community service. Model UN is one such entity. We need more of that… Model School Board, Model City Council. Model State Legislature. Our youth need to be able to see themselves in these roles if they are going to ever aspire to fill them. And make it fun… with food and music and prizes.
TELL THE ORIGIN STORIES OF LEADER LEGENDS
The vast majority of legendary Black leaders (political and otherwise) started their journey as youngsters. Darn near everyone in the Civil Rights pantheon of leaders started as a teenager or younger – John Lewis, Diane Nash, Julian Bond, Rev. Al Sharpton, and countless others. Hell, in comparison, MLK was an old man when he got the call to pastor his first church at 26. Our story is overflowing with young people, like the literal children (elementary and middle school Black children who saved the movement in Birmingham (look it up). Also check out those brave youth in South Africa who made the anti-apartheid movement move. When youth can see themselves in history-makers, youth are inspired to make history.
IDENTIFY PLACES KNOWN FOR EMPOWERING YOUNG FOLK
There are places in our midst that already do a great job of energizing and exciting Black youth about themselves, their people and their role in society. Find them and use them. Support those places, like SHAPE, SEHAH, the Links youth programs and others… and watch the magic happen.
TEACH THEM THE CONNECTION BETWEEN VOTES AND EVERYTHING
When children know that doing their chores is directly connected to their ability to get rewards and avoid punishments, they take those chores seriously. Politics is literally about rewards and punishments. If you vote and get involved on other levels, you increase your chances of being rewarded with the things you want – better school, faster public service, healthcare access, etc. Let our children know that whatever it is they value, they can have better access to it by being politically active.
BE THE EXAMPLE
Children mimic what they see their parents and other adults important in their lives do. If you read, chances are your child is gonna be a serious reader. If you are an entrepreneur, the chances of your child being a business owner increase exponentially. If we want our young people to be fired up about politics, we as adults have to get fired up about politics. Period.