Guest Post by Christina A.
My mom, Mary Avery, explained to our son how they were helping voters know information by sending Blue Wave Postcards. Later, they had a more in-depth conversation about democracy.
Mary Avery defined democracy as simply being able to vote for someone who would talk to people about what they want to happen in a situation. She gave him an example he could relate to:
What if his class wanted to have more treats and they wanted one person to talk with the teacher about it, but there were two kids who said they would do it? How would they decide who would speak for them? Well, she expalined, they could have the kids vote for the one who would represent them and go to the teacher. OR his class could have a king and the king would decide everything for everyone without hearing the opinions of the class.
He grasped the concept quickly and said: "No king!! I don't want a king! Democracy is when WE vote for things we want. But not just to do what we want forever".
Then he gathered up pens and paper and a bag so they could vote on what they would do for the following week.