Teaching Politics
No, this is not going to be me telling you what to believe in. In fact, I won’t even mention my political standpoint at all. I just want to discuss the importance of educating yourself and understanding the consequences of who you choose to vote for. We are very fortunate in Canada to have as much of a voice as we do, and we have access to so much education. We should take advantage of this and gather information from sources that are reliable and as unbiased as possible.
First of all I don’t agree with parents putting their political beliefs onto their children. Growing up, my parents didn’t discuss politics much with me unless I asked which I am happy with. I have grown to choose a party that aligns with my beliefs fairly well. The reason why I think that you should choose on your own is that you have different priorities than your parents or other loved ones. Your parent may benefit from one party that you don’t agree with, and that is okay. There is a reason why voting is anonymous, and you should not feel ashamed if you vote differently than your friends or family.
It is important to see other sides of things while educating yourself. What I mean by this is don’t just assume that you fully agree with one party without researching all the others. I was fairly confident with where I stood, but I still took the time to visit every other party’s website and learn about their policies. I learned a lot that I didn’t know and it changed my perspective on the other parties. I am glad that I took the time to educate myself so that I could feel confident in my choice.
I also want to mention that it is totally acceptable to change your political views. This is why it is so important to keep educating yourself. As we grow up our priorities will change and we may end up aligning with different parties. The education system is not great, at least mine wasn’t. I barely knew what all of the parties were until grade 11. Yes, grade 11. I was embarrassed to admit this but it isn’t talked about enough. I’m not saying that we need to teach kindergarteners what all the different parties stand for, but there are definitely subtle ways of teaching what a democracy is and so on. You don’t need to tell us what to believe in, just give us the tools to know how to decide.
In the end just be true to what you believe in and don’t let others make you feel bad for it. Do listen to others opinions though. I love talking with someone that has opposing views to me without debating. Having debates can be very useful when trying to get your point across, but I challenge you to have a calm and collected conversation with someone you disagree with. Try listening to the other person’s opinion without interrupting or making a face. We can all be more kind to each other and it starts with just listening. If you don’t have anything nice to say then don’t say anything at all. Thank you for reading.
-LG
