Voting

While I see the advantages and lure of voting by mail, I fear its consequences even more. Every year, I make it a point to include my children when I physically go vote. I see it as an opportunity to talk to them about what I'm doing, discuss the issues at hand, and explain our right- nay, our duty- to vote. It seems to me that we as a society keep taking things out of the sight of children, causing each generation to lose just a little more respect for their elders. One example is that it used to be that children worked right alongside their parents. They saw just how hard their parents worked, resulting in great respect. As the generations have gone by, more and more parents are working away from their children- kids no longer have any idea just what their parents do, or that their parents work very hard every day. They only see their mom or dad (or both) leave in the car each morning and return sometime later in the day. For all they know, we are playing at the park without them! As a result, the work ethic has plummeted, the family unit is disconnected and children have less respect for their parents/elders in general. I know that advances in technology and the pace of our society make it difficult to include our children in all the workings and I lament that fact. Being just one person with little ambition for changing the world, I do my part for my own kids by including them in as much as I possibly can; I take them shopping with me, run my errands with them in the car, and have them help with housework. And, of course, take them voting with me every year.