VIEW FROM THE CHEAP SEAT : Third grade politics
Posted on Thursday, August 28, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/wrvn/Editorial/4222/
It seems I have always been interested in politics. From the makeshift ballot I passed around to my third grade classmates the day of the presidential election in 1972, a lifelong train of thought was begun.
I’m sure that my fellow captives in Mrs. Pratt’s class weren’t the least bit interested in whether Nixon or McGovern would win once my poll went around. When it was returned to me, some marks neat and some not so neat considering the body-politick was nearly divided between boys and girls, the results were telling. Except for Daniel Botticher, a great American, who was convinced that I was shuffling a short deck of cards and promptly used the new fangled Air Mail system in returning my ballot, many took the time to express their opinion on the direction of the nation.
It was easier, back then, as a third grader to get your bearings on the condition of the world. It was a simple time in life. Parents were always there with protection and love. Neighbors would fill the gaps for other parents and somehow we kids made it to maturity. Days were consumed with trying to navigate the story of the Mayflower and introduction to cursive writing and clock watching for the next recess. Recesses were the highlights of the school day. Energy had to be expended to allow concentration on book learning.
Thank Him, for not making us deal with a diagnosis of ADHD lest we be made into zombies to drugged up to enjoy the swings and monkey bars.
Who was going to be president the next four years ranked low on priorities for kids barely out of diapers and still suffering from an occasional accident in the pants that would bring on embarrassments galore. But my classmates voted on that piece of paper and returned it to the pollster.
I suspect a politician had to be more of a hypocrite back then. Children needed to be told many more lies, lies had to have time to age and cure to permeate, painstakingly, in various versions elaborated upon. Teaching techniques had to be perfected by political schoolmasters bent on bringing about the days we live now.
We, third graders, lived through the resignation of Nixon two years hence and could see the worry in adult eyes. What had they done to this country ? Had they destroyed the promises made to the denizens of elementary schools ? Were gas lines being made into a fixture of life with its 45-cents per gallon of gas ? Vietnam had done damage to government in its ability to be trusted in truth telling. Yet, as third graders, my classmates voted for a different path. If the national election had turned on the outcome of a vote in at least one class populated with future voters, George McGovern would have won the White House and maybe fashioned a different world. Maybe third graders are onto something. Young kids have the ability to determine if an adult is good or bad. If an adult is good kids know. If an adult is bad kids know and won’t change their opinions. Once a bad guy, always a bad guy. That innate sense of children helps to ensure survival. Kids have to navigate a world where their very lives depend on trust. I would be interested in who third graders trust in this election: Obama or McCain ?
------Steve Foster has a degree in criminal justice and works as a social worker in Northwest Arkansas.