Is it okay to give my 7 and 10 year old siblings daily political briefings?

I want them to grow up knowing what is happening in this world. And yes, keeping up with political and economic developments is a passion of mine.

I was thinking of giving them daily briefings before bed where we could discuss the important events of the day? Is that too much? And has anyone ever tried doing it with their siblings?

I have previously used them as ‘revision bots’ 😂 sounds crazy but it just means I asked them to read a few keywords and test me on whether I got the definitions right.

Edit: I don’t aim to force any kind of views on them (I don’t even know where I stand when it comes to politics tbf!)
I just hope to provide basic knowledge and ultimately provoke an interest in healthy debate and criticisms (I fully appreciate that the latter would probably come into play a lot later..). For now, I would just discuss the most interesting topic of the day and ask their opinions.

(edited 5 years ago)

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Reply 1

username3434964

I doubt that they will be so interested as to want to listen to you go on about politics everyday.
You don't need 'daily political briefings' lmao but sure if they're interested tell them about what's going on if they ask lmao

(edited 5 years ago)

Reply 2

Blue_Cow

Original post by Human_bean

Give them a ministerial red box too, so you can put these briefings inside them.

Reply 3

CrazyPantha27

Original post by Human_bean

If you keep it light and neutral then I don’t see a problem with it. But if you want to push your own views on them and not let them think for themselves then I would say leave it.

Reply 4

nvm787

Too much. Per week is enough.

Reply 5

999tigger

Leave them alone and let them discover politics for themselves. Sounds like you are shoving your own agenda onto them and they might prefer just to be children.

Reply 6

unholysaint2022

couple times a week would be good. simplify it obviously for them but yeah i like that idea

Reply 7

Human_bean

Haha, yes! I intend to stick to child friendly, interesting and easily digestible topics.

Reply 8

Human_bean

Original post by Blue_Cow

Give them a ministerial red box too, so you can put these briefings inside them.

...that actually might be a good idea 😅🤣

(edited 5 years ago)

Reply 9

Human_bean

Original post by CrazyPantha27

If you keep it light and neutral then I don’t see a problem with it. But if you want to push your own views on them and not let them think for themselves then I would say leave it.

No, not at all.
I want to encourage them to be able to fully think for themselves and develop their own opinions (- of course, not immediately, that’s the long term plan).

Reply 10

Human_bean

Original post by 999tigger

Leave them alone and let them discover politics for themselves. Sounds like you are shoving your own agenda onto them and they might prefer just to be children.

In terms of them being children - yes, I see where you’re coming from. And I have considered that. But I don’t think a brief chat about an interesting topic a day will do much (if any) harm. Especially if it’s a topic geared towards what they are studying at school.

As for the agenda - I just want to encourage intellectual stimulation. Only reason I chose politics/economics as discussion materials is because I keep up with them anyway and they are relevant to most topics/industries.

Reply 11

A Rolling Stone

Original post by Human_bean

I want them to grow up knowing what is happening in this world. And yes, keeping up with political and economic developments is a passion of mine.

I was thinking of giving them daily briefings before bed where we could discuss the important events of the day? Is that too much? And has anyone ever tried doing it with their siblings?

I have previously used them as ‘revision bots’ 😭😂 sounds crazy but it just means I asked them to read a few keywords and test me on whether I got the definitions right.

Edit: I don’t aim to force any kind of views on them (I don’t even know where I stand tbf!)
I just hope to provide basic knowledge and ultimately provoke an interest in healthy debate and criticisms (I fully appreciate that the latter would probably come into play a lot later..). For now, I would just discuss the most interesting topic of the day and ask their opinions.

no. its manipulative.

Reply 12

999tigger

Original post by Human_bean

I think you should leave them alone and if they want to look at political issues then send them to Newsround. Daily briefings to a 7 and 10 year old? Sounds horrendous. Let them be children.

What are you going to do if they say no?
Why not read them a story instead?

(edited 5 years ago)

Reply 13

gjd800

Sounds horrifically dull.

Reply 14

Human_bean

Original post by CollectiveSoul

no. its manipulative.

I disagree. Manipulation goes far deeper than a 10-15 min chat before bedtime.
Plus, I don’t expect them to become politicians or economists.

Reply 15

Human_bean

Original post by gjd800

Sounds horrifically dull.

There are some interesting topics for kids. But I get where you are coming from.

(edited 5 years ago)

Reply 16

gjd800

Original post by Human_bean

There are some interesting topics for kids. But I get where you are coming from.

When I was 10 I was more interested in pretending to be David Seaman than in hearing one of my cousins bleat on about politics.

Reply 17

Nicky Barrett

Mentioning things every now and then in passing or answering about what’s politically going on if they ask is fine.
Although be mindful not to push your own views on them or overload them with things that are too heavy for a child.

Reply 18

Coffee567

That’s a great idea to encourage your siblings to learn about the world around them formulate their own views and perspectives. However rather than dictating the ‘most interesting’ topic let them choose their own topics that they find interesting and appealing. Then ask their impression of the topic (that’s what I did with my siblings)

Reply 19

Human_bean

Original post by Coffee567

Thanks, that’s a really good idea (letting them choose their own topic). I was considering buying something like ‘The Week Junior’ so they could pick a few articles of their choice every week.

Can I ask you how much of an age gap you and your siblings have? And how long you did this kind of thing with them?
Also - did you help them with school work too