23rd Apr 2006
let’s proselytize through the children, shall we?
Am going through students papers and listening to NPR and there’s an interview on with two recent children’s book authors.
One has written:
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Help! Mom! There Are Liberals Under My Bed!
The other has written one not yet out (or else I can’t find it) called Why Mommy is a Democrat. Are we kidding? First of all, how easy is it to explain to a small child the concept of Republican/Democrat without devolving into a discussion of good guys/bad guys — thereby oversimplifying a complex and important concept? This isn’t just about good and bad but why people believe the things they do and plenty of good people choose conservative positions on some issues (abortion for religious beliefs for example) and liberal positions on others (welfare for the same reasons). How do you explain that when you’ve already portrayed liberals as monsters or Republicans as uncaring, capitalist fiends? It’s just not that simple, whether you or anyone else would like it to be and teaching children a complicated, multihued issue in the black and white format of a picture book is a moronic idea.
Think I will write my own. Help! Kids! There Are Idiots In My Country!
What do you think?
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