President Trump: The NEW one and only politics thread

Why the hell does his 4-year-old know about mass shootings of school children in America?

 

Exploiting small children takes work.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...ills-for-preschoolers-this-is-who-we-are-now/

While there are conflicting views about whether active shooting drills calm students who feel prepared for such a disaster — or create anxiety in them — active-shooter drills have become increasingly common for children of all ages, even as young as 2.

 

This is a common refrain about the Parkland teen-agers, in particular, and I want to push back on it a little bit and see where it leads. The frequent allegation is that the tragedy is being "exploited" for "political gain," or something along those lines. But the "gain" sought is a change in the law that would seemingly protect those kids and others. That doesn't seem at all exploitative to me. It's not like people seek to ban AR-15s independent of the safety issues related to them.

In other words, the only thing that makes this "political" is that we change laws through the political process. It's really a debate over whether a particular piece of merchandise should or should not be legal to purchase.

 

Can't speak for this particular child, but mine have had to go through the active shooter drills at school, blacking out windows, taking cover, etc. That's how my kids became aware of this.

 

Would you sit your toddler down and talk to them about mass shootings outside of anything like what is described above?

 

They did active shooter drills at my kid's private school pre-K. She's in third grade now. They do those drills more often than tornado drills.

 

Hold on, now. There’s a huge difference between a teenager and a toddler. If my young child has a safety drill, I’ll gladly explain the larger issues (within reason), but if my child is a typical, inquisitive teenager, talks about important things would be part of our relationship. I WANT my kids to be aware and ask questions as they grow older, but I’m not going to tell my 3 1/2-year-old about mass shootings when she asks me to play Beauty and the Beast with her.

 

I know, I know. To be clear, your post mentioning exploitation triggered my thoughts on the broader accusation. I totally get what you're saying about the 4-year-old.

But are the Parkland teens being "exploited" for "political" purposes?

I don't feel like they are.

 

Also, these kids WANT to be the face of this issue and this tragedy. No parent or other adult is forcing them in front of the camera.

Sure, you could say the news programs are exploiting them for ratings or whatever, but I think it is more accurate to say that these kids are exploiting the news programs to push their agenda and keep it in the face of an audience with a painfully short attention span.

 

How do you know this?