Explaining Political Ads, Current News, and Voting to Kids

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Ads for the upcoming election have already been running for months. There has been little on our screens but talking, passion, and anger—and more recently, sorrow at two more mass shootings.

Children will bear witness to these strong feelings during their screen-time activities or while parents have the television on. They will see campaigns attempting to persuade voters to one side (and in the case of Democrats, they'll see lots of ads running within the same side). Television, even when it's on in the background, can affect a young mind (Krenn, 2015; Pempeck et al., 2014) and ads can have negative effects of which some caregivers may be unaware.

It's important to provide age-appropriate language and strategies to help quell the anxiety that may flare among children who are absorbing this information, particularly as we continue to face difficult times in our country (Pearce & Field 2015). Caregivers can keep in mind some of these tools—based on news processing theory—that can help kids understand and react to what is happening (Lang, Potter, & Grabe, 2003).

1. Speak about what's on-screen.

Passionate feelings and worries run rampant on screen, which may cause them to do the same in your household. Some children might be more attuned to feelings of anger (and rightly so, given today's media landscape), while others internalize feelings of anxiety. Help explain to kids why people are so heated in discussions, and why actions as citizens are seen as so important.

2. Slow down.

Ads are meant to be digested in a concise amount of time. As a result, they are often brief, emotional, and—at times—distressing. Political campaigns reach more voters when they rely on strong emotions in the short time they have.

Adults can help children process this by slowing down the little one's thinking and speaking about the ideas presented in ads. Maybe as parents, you don't know yourself! Take the time to look up why these issues are important, and what candidates want to do about these issues. Then, explain to children how this process helps people determine for whom they'll vote (or at least, that that's what the intention is).

3. Listen to ads and news with children, if age-appropriate.

I'll be honest—some of the political points that come up during screen time are very complicated, and may not be ideal for the preschool or younger elementary age group. Thus, monitoring or removal of screen time might be advised, particularly for programs or games that have ads running through them. Help children understand that everyone, including them, can take a moment to understand both sides. Coming together to debate and discuss is one of the pillars of our democracy.

4. Put negative images in context.

Negative images will, unfortunately, continue to encompass the campaign trail for many more months—there may be even more today than there were yesterday. If your child happens to view these ads or news stories, try to be honest in your discussion. Make sure you leave space to ask questions and express their worries or fears, if they have any.

5. Be natural in how you approach the subject.

Use examples they can relate to when explaining a grownup topic. You do not have to be a political analyst, nor a news commentator, to do this—but if it's difficult for you, a search on Google may help.

Often, in cognitive science, we talk about the "cognitive load," a theory positing that in order to have optimal learning, a small load on one’s working memory yields a better transfer to long-term memory (Sweller, 1998). It can be argued that ads did not carry a large load several decades ago. But today, ads have many emotional, passionate, and often angry points to exhibit. Thus, more work is required from working memory, long-term memory, or both to process this information.

Think about that from an adult perspective—as many adults are overwhelmed themselves—and then think about it from the mind of a child, who is new to many of these real-world issues and uncertain of what the future will hold.

What will be your motivation to explain political ads/news stories to a questioning child today? And will that motivation get you to your local polling place in November 2020? Breaking it down, allowing emotions to be expressed, and putting it in context may be the approach you need.

As a parent, I am still trying to figure out how to convey what my child hears and sees on TV most effectively. She wants to be "in the know" and has already expressed the desire that our country move in what she considers a positive direction. I, too, want to see similar movement.