Americans: Take Your Kids to Vote on Tuesday

As you are no doubt aware, this Tuesday is Election Day in the United States, and, given the state of things in the world, one of the most important presidential elections in a long time. We on GeekDad encourage all U.S. citizens who are registered to vote to make sure to go to the polls on Tuesday (if not before), regardless of who your pick is for president.

We also encourage all parents who are going to vote, if your kids are old enough to understand what you’re doing, to bring them to the polling place with you. It’s a unique opportunity for them to see citizens — and, more specifically, you — exercise their right to participate in government. It’s the sort of experience that can stick in their heads and help foster an interest in government and politics. I can speak from personal experience here: my parents took me with them to the voting booth pretty much every year when I was growing up. That, combined with other things they did, like simply talking about the news at the dinner table, definitely helped make me as fascinated by the political process as I am today.

My kids are 6 and almost 8, and they behaved themselves very well when my wife and I went to vote early in Virginia almost two weeks ago. They know who our pick is for president, and have been cheering him on since we first started talking about him. Please go vote, and please consider bringing your kids with you when you do.

Oh, and, since this is GeekDad, I thought our readers might be interested in the Popular Mechanics Geek the Vote 2008 website. It’s a look at the science and technology positions of Senators McCain and Obama, to help geeks see where the candidates stand on issues important to them.

(Comments disabled to avoid partisan flamewars.)

Liked it? Take a second to support GeekDad and GeekMom on Patreon!