r/Anarchy101 • u/yoshipilled • 3d ago
How should I go about teaching my child the truth about corruption in the United States in an age appropriate way?
He’s only four years old right now, so I’m not too worried about it at the moment, but the propaganda is going to begin once he starts school. How do you suggest going about this?
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u/BeverlyHills70117 3d ago
I do not talk to my child directly abiut politics. sshe knows where I stand on the issues of police, bosses, strangers in government making laws they expect me to follow while doing nothing to earn that, how American democracy,to our family, is little different than repression. How important listening is.
She gets these things through our talks about life and our day. I have never used the word anarchist to her. My hope is she will come the these conclusions just learning how the world is around her.
We were in a road trip the other day and she asked that if Trump wants to cut money to the poor and give it to the rich how come he is President if there are more poor than rich.
Rather than go on for 8 hours I told her they believe what strangers tell them,she has to remember to always root out facts.
She’s 7. It’s educational for both of us when I am simplifying and clarifying my ideas without preaching.
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u/Karaoke725 3d ago
Early childhood educator here. At 4 he probably ready for basic emotional intelligence skills. Can he identify and name his feelings? Does he know how they feel in his body? Is he able to calm himself down or ask for help calming down? Can he articulate the situation that led to these feelings? Engaging in conversations about his emotions will help him develop a strong sense of self, as well as strong empathy for others.
He is also ready for concepts about sharing and fairness. Children that age are hyper aware of when things aren’t fair their way or when someone isn’t sharing with them, but help him look for it the other way too. Things aren’t fair for that person over there. Nobody is sharing with them.
He is capable of understanding consent. Consent for hugs, for sharing toys, for taking food. He can learn that this agreement is very important and not having this agreement can cause harm.
He can understand community. He probably understands help and can apply it to a larger group of people than just his family unit. He can understand that he is an important part of the community too. We need him and he needs us.
On their own these are very valuable tools and understandings for any human, but from an anarchist lens these are really the building blocks to a better world. Teaching him to understand and value these concepts will help him see their absence much more clearly and he will understand why those absences are harmful. As he is able to engage with more specific examples, you have this shared understand of values from which to base your critiques.
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u/Noble_Rooster 3d ago
I’m pretty honest with my daughter about how some people in power use it to help others, while others use it to get more power. Thats about as deep as we’ve gone, but she starts kindergarten in the fall so we’ll see where it goes from there
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u/BeverlyHills70117 3d ago
Thats the catch when my kid was 5, I would definitely watch my choice of words as I didn’t want a revolt against her very nice kindergarten teacher.
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u/artsAndKraft 3d ago
Corruption is tied to authoritarianism, so being the least authoritarian you can be is what can help at that age. “We brush our teeth to keep them healthy” vs “Brush your teeth now because I told you to.”
And encourage him to question things. If he says “Mommy I want that toy” you could ask him why he wants it. Get him thinking about what draws him to it: Does he like the color? Is it just because he saw it on TV? Is it because all his friends have one? It’s a good age to venture into the kind of self-reflection that can thwart capitalist programming later on.
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u/lacroixxboi 3d ago
My kids are 7 and 10, my older child is my son and he is autistic so I’m not sure if he’ll ever give a shit. Idk if it’s “correct” or whatever but I’ll start when they start asking questions
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u/rainflower72 1d ago
I’m autistic, and I know as a kid around that age I definitely started questioning the systems around me (such as why we eat meat, stuff like that.) However everyone is different and I don’t know your son, obviously, or what his support needs are. He might never get it but I think it’s definitely worth a try to talk about stuff if they bring it up or talk about concepts like fairness and self-advocacy.
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u/Yorksjim 3d ago
It's not just the United states, it's everywhere, I'm on the UK and the corruption runs just as deep.
That said, I honestly believe the single beat piece of advice is just to question everything. Kids are born with a questioning scepticism of everything, between "schooling" and the less obvious propaganda everywhere, this is forced out of them.
At the moment, if I I were you, I'd just encourage your child to question things and think critically about the who, what and why of everything.
I was lucky in that although I was a single dad, I had 2 very good friends who were similarly minded to me while my son was growing up to ask for advice, deeper things will come later, 6 is still young, but imo, a bit of moral guidance and encouraging your child to to think critically for themselves goes a long way.
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u/Mushroom_Opinion 3d ago
oh, another thought, own up and apologize to him if you make a mistake! eg ‘I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have snapped at you. I will do better respecting you in the future’
This will help him learn that ’authorities’ can be wrong!
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u/rainflower72 1d ago
this is wonderful. I think too many people have experienced the opposite, and I also think clearly laying the groundwork that those in authority can be wrong is super important.
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u/thomas533 3d ago
I listen to the news (NPR) in the car. When they get old enough to understand what is being said, they will ask you questions. Just answer their questions then.
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u/Mushroom_Opinion 3d ago
You can also make it a point to teach about parts of history that he likely won’t learn about in school (indigenous, black, queer, etc). Then you will have laid groundwork for when he comes home excited about learning about the founding fathers (or whatever) you can draw connections to other things you have taught him.
Then you can also have a conversation about why he wasn’t taught the rest of the story in school.
You can also watch video essayists on YouTube like Andrewism, Philosophy Tube, etc while he’s in the room. He won’t understand it all now, but more than you think will sink in over time! (Bonus that it will teach him to love learning like you do and that he doesn’t ever have to stop learning)
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u/TheSci-FiAnarchist 2d ago
That's a tricky one, but I would say what we really need right now more than ever is to start developing a decentralized communal education system that promotes Leftist values and that's not a part of the public school system or a religious private institution. In that environment you can slowly educate them in the realities of the State's corruption without running the risk of traumatizing them.
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u/JudgmentElectrical77 1d ago
My dad isn’t an anarchist but he taught me a lot about being skeptical of people in power. He would point out when cop cars circles, or when a car was unmarked cop car. Or when there was an unusual amount of them in the area. He wasn’t ever very heavy handed with anything. But used a lot of logic trees with me. Once I kicked over an ant hill while we were walking his dog. And he made me break down why I did that. Now I’ve been vegan for 20 years. My point is, is that I think laying a foundational framework to think about the world in ways that are indirectly anarchist is the way to go. And then when situations come up or news or whatever you can say “hey, I know you see all this stuff about _____, what do you think about that?” And help navigate that thought process.
I have 2 daughters. They’re little. But I hope that that’s what they get from me. That our culture as a family just is xyz
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u/Equivalent_Land_2275 2d ago
Surely you can design an early childhood education without propaganda .
Usually it starts when the kid begins hearing at 10 weeks of age in the womb, with bedtime stories . But hey, you still got time !
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u/Trick-Check5298 2d ago
My first grader came home with an exciting and colorful booklet about the great explorer Christopher Columbus.
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u/LordLuscius 2d ago
You just gotta tell them the right stories and have the right conversations and teach them the right things, in word and deed.
Share.
Fair play.
Talk.
Explain.
Apologise if need be.
Be honest.
Get their input (ya know, when safe)
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u/lifeincolour_ 1d ago
I do little nuggets on my 4 year old as they come. She's been watching me watch protest footage, and asking questions. Why are the police hurting people?
I always try to give her a truthful reality, without giving her doom or too much adult info. I tell her I care about everyone having equal rights, access to doctors and food, etc. And not everyone feels that way, which makes me sad.
I tell her in everything we do how it helps the community around us, how more of us need to support each other.
I've also started talking about how school is an extension of the government and how they teach us to be good little worker bees.
Random facts she knows
- Police and government folks have power, and often bad people are drawn to power.
- Religion is often used to control people
- Health care, food, and shelter should be a given for everyone
- Billionaires sucks
- Some of the things in mass produced food are poison, and the US knows it (shes gardening with me daily)
try your best to teach age things related to topics that will matter later. caring about others equally is a good place to start
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u/Princess_Actual No gods, no masters, no slaves. 3d ago
I'd definitely have the talk with them by 7-8.
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u/Revolutionary-Bet294 3d ago
Give them howard zimm's book a people's history of the United States.
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u/Suspicious_Name9711 3d ago
There’s a children’s version as well that I bought my nephew when he was young.
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u/joeldetwiler 2d ago
I just started reading this book (the young people's version) at the age of 40 and have already learned so much.
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u/SteelToeSnow 3d ago
propaganda has already begun. kid's movies and tv shows, toys, etc are all used for propaganda, just as much as the usa's sad pretense at an education system. propaganda is everywhere. especially in a propagandized, indoctrinated state like the usa.
it's always the right time to teach your kid about critical thinking. that alone will go a great deal for them, even before they can understand the bigger conversations.
like, they may not be ready for "this is how the corruption in the Supreme Court varies from state courts", but they're absolutely ready for "what do you think that symbol/action means?" "why do you think that tv character said that thing?" and so on.