Reply #47: There's a window with kids, I think, around age 10

[RevolutionStartsNow]

I think it's important to engage them at this particular age. My daughter did the same at Danny's age; she worked on the Dean campaign with me, even traveled to Iowa before the caucus, and spent a lot of her evenings at meetings with me writing letters, etc. She learned a lot.

But as she entered her teen years she started to become much more interested in her own things (music, friends, boys...) and while she's still politically aware, she's not interested in activism at this point in her life. Anyone who has a teenager knows it's more common than not to have them go through this self-centered phase. It's okay, she's a very good kid with good values -- I think she has a foundation now, and when she's older I won't be surprised if she returns to activism and political involvement.

If you have kids who aren't yet totally self-absorbed, now's a good time to talk to them about what's going on in the world (and their own community) and how they can help.