Don’t Vote for the Duck! is a new children’s book that aims to teach politics and values to youth through fun-loving characters in a relatable school setting. Children will read it as a positive story about kindness and teamwork saving the day. Adults will read it as a pointed dig at Trump.
In the story, author Laura Kenly represents Donald Trump using a duck with a bully’s personality. The book nods to many of Trump’s most controversial stances: the Duck builds a wall around the playground, restricts new students from coming to the school, and treats the girls unfairly. The rhymes are punchy and fun, and even nod to the COVID crisis.
Author Laura Kenly is a Marketing Executive who chose to use a pseudonym because she fears attacks from online trolls and Trump supporters. Amazon reviews have proven to be a perfect example of this response, polarized along party lines with either five or one-star reviews. Those who find President Trump’s behavior unacceptable rave about the book, but supporters find it (not surprisingly) distasteful.
Kenly wrote the book while in quarantine away from her family after exposure to Coronavirus. While isolated in her room for six days, she watched Trump’s response to the Coronavirus crisis with frustration. While she had long disliked Trump, this was the final straw, and she decided that she needed to take some small action to stand up to him.
I had a chance to interview her to learn more.
Why is it important to talk to children about politics?
For right or wrong, our world and our discourse is affected by politics. Yet most parents think it’s too complicated to introduce to preschool and elementary school children. But it’s actually a topic that fascinates young minds because it deals with FAIRNESS. And as I’m sure you’ve noticed, children are borderline obsessed with what is fair! So voting, and the inherent fairness of it, is very appealing to kids as young as three years old. (Let’s not get caught up in whether the US electoral voting system is actually fair…)
Unfortunately, we see from “The Nation’s Report Card” that by the end of 4th grade, only 24% of students understand how US citizens vote for the President [1]...and that’s from a multiple choice question with only four answers! It’s no wonder that 18-29 year olds consistently have the lowest voter turnout. Whether or not young adults vote is due in part to whether politics and voting were discussed and modeled by their parents/caregivers. [2]
If we want our children to become civically engaged, we need to do a better job teaching our children from an early age. Luckily, there are lots of great books that help to introduce politics in age-appropriate ways. Like Don’t Vote for the Duck!
How can parents model respectful discourse, instead of the rhetoric that we see from some politicians?
As we all know, kids absorb what they see from their parents like little sponges. So how parents debate or disagree will become their frame of reference on how it ought to be done. Given that, imagine they are your audience and remember CLAPS:
Calm down. The biggest mistake we make in confrontation is to let ourselves get riled up. Think of the issue like a puzzle that needs to be solved, not like an attack. (Easier said than done!)
Listen. Resist the urge to interrupt, or to plan your response while the other person is talking. Even if it’s an argument you’ve had before, you might pick up on some new emotion behind the words that you’d missed before.
Agree. Agree where you can. Include at least one agreement in a summary of the other person’s point of view. For instance, you might say to your partner, “I agree that we spend more holidays with my family than with yours, and I hear you that it doesn’t seem fair.” By agreeing, you give the other person validation, which will make them more open to listening and agreeing to YOU.
Problem solve. Focus on the problem, NOT the person. So instead of saying, “You just hate spending time with my parents, and you don’t care that my sister is going through a divorce”, you could say, “It’s important to me to be there for my sister during this hard time. And I know that being with my parents can be difficult for more than a few days, but the children love being there.
Summarize. Make sure that you are both on the same page before walking away. “I understand that you are frustrated and hurt that we are going to my parents for Christmas. I appreciate that you want me to support my sister, and we are in agreement that next Christmas we will definitely be with your family.”
It’s also a good idea to stage some disagreements. Big, marital fights should be held away from your children. The psychological damage to children from witnessing “scary” fights has been well documented. But collaborate with your partner to plan out some minor disagreements, so that your children can watch and learn. For preschool children, pick something as simple as, “The very best color is blue” and have your partner respectfully challenge you.
What can parents say about politicians who don't model respectful behavior or integrity?
First off, establish how much your child already understands about what they saw or heard. Ask a lot of questions about what happened, and how they feel about it. Then answer in an age-appropriate way. For young children, a simple, “They made a bad choice, didn’t they? What could they have done better?” is usually enough.
For kids 7+, this is a good time to empower them to take action when they see a politician say or do something that they think is morally wrong. Once you have discussed the behavior, suggest that you both write a letter to the politician in question or your local representative. This is a great opener to a broader conversation about how the political system works, and how they can personally effect change.
What does talking about politics have to do with things like sexism and xenophobia?
Sadly these issues should not be related! But unfortunately, sexism and xenophobia are playing a big part in our current political situation. The good news is that having sexism and xenophobia so prominent on the national stage provides an opening for discussing these uncomfortable topics.
Again, keep it age appropriate. For young children, you might say, “The President wants to keep people from other countries from coming to America. Does that seem right? Would your preschool keep out kids who moved here from somewhere else?” Same for sexism. Ask, “Should boys and girls be treated the same? Should they get to use the same playground equipment?” Follow both questions up with a basic discussion about how all people should be treated equally.
For older children, take things a step further. Ask them more questions, and gently correct misconceptions they may have. Sometimes children at this age start to view xenophobia and sexism as valid, because they see more of it around them. In those cases, ask them to imagine what it would feel like if the roles were reversed.
In any of these situations, the conversation you initiate with your child might be bumpy, awkward, or frustrating. But that’s okay, because the most important thing is that the conversation happened at all!
[1] https://nces.ed.gov/NationsReportCard
[2] https://civicyouth.org/quick-facts/youth-voting/#2
To listen to the read-aloud version of Don’t Vote for the Duck, visit https://youtu.be/g2y8LvyTirM.
Laura Kenly
Laura Kenly is a former CMO of high-growth consumer tech businesses, and mother to three harsh critics. She holds an MBA from Stanford.
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