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Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. We're going to end the show today with a call-in for parents on how you're talking to your kids about the election results. 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692. Parents, how are you talking to your kids about the election results? 212-433-9692. How much attention were your kids of whatever age paying to the campaign? How much did you involve them in following the campaigns, maybe even canvassing? Did they go vote with you? 212-433-WNYC.
Yes, we want to hear from Harris voters who see in Trump a threat to civility, a threat to their children themselves in various ways, a threat to democracy, but also directly as a threat to migrants, immigrants, women, LGBTQ, and especially trans folks, yes, the climate, and his political opponents as enemies within. How are you explaining to your children that more than half the country and maybe more of your neighbors than you realized voted for him? 212-433-WNYC. This is obviously that aspect of it for Harris voters. 212-433-9692.
We got a text earlier in an earlier segment from a parent who said their daughter was getting a lot of pro-Harris content in their social media feed. Their son was getting a lot of pro-Trump kind of manosphere content in his social media sphere. I wonder if you saw any of that with respect to your kids as well and they reflected any of that back to you.
It's really for you parents, how are you explaining the results of the election to your children, especially if they're disillusioned, if they're people who were tending to support Harris themselves or may now see that the US still has a glass ceiling for women in the presidency, if that's how they're experiencing it, so anything like that. For Trump voters too, if you voted for him but maybe you don't think he's role model material for your kids in many ways, how do you explain that disconnect?
We've certainly heard from and heard about many voters who say, "Yes, I don't really like his personal character, but I think his policies are going to be better for me," or for their country, how do you explain that contradiction or that duality to your kids? 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692. One more thing on this, Vox reporter Allie Volpe wrote in Vox about how to talk to kids about politics before Election Day, and the main advice was they're paying more attention than you probably think and let them take the lead with questions.
If they're worried, she cites psychologist Melissa Goldberg Mintz and writes, "Do your best to give them an honest answer, but try not to give into fear or negativity even if you are feeling scared. You might say, I hear that you're worried about that and I have some concerns too, but we'll figure out ways to get through it if that happens." There's a little more bread for you to chew on. Tell us if that sounds like you. What are your kids making of this election and the results and what are you telling them, parents, from any point of view? 212-433-WNYC. We'll take your calls and texts right after this.
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Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. Now to your calls and texts about how you're talking to your kids about the election results. Kevin in Livingston, New Jersey, you're on WNYC. Hi, Kevin.
Kevin: Good morning. Long time first time. My daughter is 12 and goes to an all girls school out here in New Jersey and is very interested in the law and women's issues. She followed the election very closely. While we were all sitting around moping the day after the election, she looked at me and said, "Oh well, I guess now I have to be the first woman president," which really gave us both perspective and hope.
Brian Lehrer: That's a wonderful way to start this call. Thank you very much. Louisa in Cherry Hill, you're on WNYC. Hi, Louisa.
Louisa: Hi. Thanks for taking my call. Yes, I have three kids. One is almost eight. One is five and a half. They voted with us. We talked a lot about the election beforehand, so of course they were going to have questions [unintelligible 00:05:14]. Unfortunately, at 7:00 in the morning that day, there wasn't a lot that I felt ready to put into precise words that they could grasp. I put together a little document, and so I thought it was interesting. My almost 8 year old clearly started to cry, which really took me aback. Since then, I've learned he's not the only kid who's had that exact reaction.
I started by saying that his father and I were also unhappy, we were surprised, but despite all that, we're still rooting for Trump. We wish him the best. We love our country, and we hope he does good things for it. We emphasized that our state did root for Harris. I think he was relieved about that. I mean, I could go on. There's a lot of other stuff I jotted down at 7, but that's the gist of it.
Brian Lehrer: What did it feel like to you to see your 8 year old actually cry over the results of an election?
Louisa: Well, like I said, I wasn't expecting it. I've tried to think since then, what was it in that moment that led to that reaction? I didn't ask, but he likes to win. He plays baseball. He gets really into the outcome of that. It makes me think that maybe they don't think that this is as big of a deal as we know it to be. Maybe it's just those terms, but who knows? I mean, he does know certain basic facts about the candidates, and for all I know, he was having a really difficult time reconciling the fact that, just for example, we might want a criminal to lead our country. I don't know. I don't know.
Brian Lehrer: Yes. Thank you for your call, Louisa. I appreciate your thoughtfulness. Here's a text from a parent who is not happy that she gave her kids hope before the election. Actually, I don't know if this parent is male or female or whatever, but it says, "I apologized to my kids for giving them hope. My 14-year-old daughter is worried she won't be able to go to college. My 11 year old just out of the closet is worried he will have to be straight. They were paying a lot of attention. We live in Jersey, so for now, we are safe."
Most of the people calling in are moms today, which is probably why I assumed a gender on that text. Let's go to another one. Jen in Crown Heights, you're on WNYC. Hello.
Jen: Hi. Thanks so much for taking my call. My daughter actually turned 14 on Election Day, my younger daughter, and she and I did a lot of campaign work this fall out in Pennsylvania. We did, I think, four or five trips going door to door. She's really interested in politics and wants to go into politics and had really strong feelings ahead of time. The morning of election day, I actually tried to cry before I talked to her because I didn't want to do that with her.
I was up since like 2:00 in the morning and just couldn't look at the news until about 6:00, and it wasn't until I woke her up and talked to her that I just lost it. I also told her that I was really proud of her for all the work that she had done and that, in difficult times, we know through history, in difficult times, people have to continue to step up and do the hard work and that that's what we would be doing.
I think one of the hardest things is that she has this perspective of the people who voted this way are stupid, the people who voted this way are evil, they wanted a dictator, and I'm trying to encourage her to understand that it's okay for people to disagree with each other and that people make decisions for lots of different reasons. We saw some of that canvassing which I thought was helpful, like what are people really prioritizing? It doesn't mean that those people are bad people.
I will say, I think my father voted differently from me. We don't talk about it, but I think if she knew that, that would really rock her.
Brian Lehrer: Yes, I guess that's a part of the complexity that I think I hear you grappling with and trying to communicate to your kids. I think we have some other callers like this who we're not going to have time to get to, but that you may see some of the things that Trump appears to stand for, like maybe dictatorship, as you said, are horrible, but not all the people who voted for him are horrible, and to be able to have a kid pull those things apart. Yes?
Jen: Yes. At the same time, while I share some of those feelings, [laughs] and I'm incredibly dispirited about what this means about what people think about women and her future safety as a young woman and the misogyny in this campaign which I think mattered so much. It's just like I'm trying to kind of communicate the angel on one of my shoulders, while I definitely have a devil on my other shoulder repeating what she's saying and worse.
Brian Lehrer: Thank you. Thank you very much for your call. I think we have time for one more. Dave in Jackson Heights, you're on WNYC. Hi, Dave. Thanks for calling in.
Dave: Hi. Good morning. I am a lifelong Democrat, but this year I went-- I have a 12 and a 14-year-old boys. We live in Jackson Heights. As you know, Jackson Heights is prominent immigrant community. I honestly flipped this year. I feel like the state of the country needed a change. As a lifelong Democrat, I stand and believe in everything we do, but at this point-- and I must confess, I wasn't the only one, as I spoke to a lot of the parents and friends of my siblings, and they all flipped, and-- [crosstalk]
Brian Lehrer: Yes, we talked on the show earlier about a map that our newsroom Gothamist website produced showing neighborhoods that changed the most, and Jackson Heights was definitely one of those neighborhoods that moved toward Trump a lot. We just have 20 seconds left. Your children, I see, are boys 12 and 14. Were they down with this, and what did you have to tell them? Real quick, Dave.
Dave: Really quick, I explained to them how what I'm doing, I really feel that it's something that's going to, although impact our lives in the future, but I do really believe that they also have to learn that sometimes okay to lose to maybe gain something or to win something. It's okay-- [crosstalk]
Brian Lehrer: Thank you, Dave. I have to leave it there because we're out of time, but I appreciate your call. Call us again. Please call us again and tell us how you think the Trump administration is working out for you, in all seriousness, if you're getting what you hope from them. We're going to give a kid the last word though, because our invitation was for parents to say what you're saying to your kids. How about what a kid said to somebody? Listener texts, "A six year old that I babysit for said to me the morning after the election, 'Don't worry, Kate, it's only for four years." Out of the mouths of babes.
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