Kids take to Net in election aftermath
BY LARRY MAGID
Special to the Mercury News November 19, 2000
I'm writing this column on Wednesday, eight days after the election, and I still have no idea who our next president will be or when we'll find out. Perhaps you do as you're reading this. Perhaps not. One thing I do know for sure is that public interest in the electoral process is hotter than ever. That's pretty strange timing, considering that it's too late to vote -- though not necessarily too late to be counted -- in the 2000 presidential elections. But it's not too late to teach your children about what is going on and how our election process works. Regardless of your kids' ages, there are plenty of lessons to be learned, not only since the cliff-hanger election Nov. 7, but in the more than 200 years since our republic was founded.In our family, the lesson I've been hammering home is that every vote counts. That's always been true, in theory, but when the decision as to who is to be the leader of the free world rests on a handful of votes, it's more than just an abstract civics lesson.
The Web is ripe with civics lessons for kids of all ages. While all of the sites looked at for this column are appropriate for kids, some are enlightening for adults as well. Links to all sites in this column can be found at www.wiredfamilies.com/elections.htm.
First, as all eyes are on Florida, true to its sunshine state slogan all court documents are on the Net. Go to www.flcourts.org and click on the Supreme Court Presidential Election Cases link.
Elsewhere, Marshall Brain's HowStuffWorks is a treasure trove of information on all sorts of things technical and civil, including an article on ``How the Electoral College Works.''
Brainpop.com has a short animated movie that explains the entire election process, including how the Electoral College works. You can find it at www.brainpop.com/specials/election/. After your kids watch the movie, have them try out the multiple-choice quiz.
There is no shortage of news about the elections, but most is difficult enough for adults to decipher, let alone kids. Time magazine, however, maintains a news site for kids with special pages on election and post-election news, which seems to be aimed at middle school and above. In addition to news, the Election Connection also has games that you can play online or download to a Windows PC. When possible I recommend that you download them rather than play them online, but some can only be played online.
Scholastic.com is covering the post-election mess on its main page and its NewsZone area with a nice mixture of up-to-date news and historical facts to put this all into context. The site also has a ``Quiz Whiz'' section with a quiz on election issues and another called ``the President's Hats'' that asks kids about the U.S. president's seven different duties. Kids are asked to vote on various issues, including whether they think the president should be elected by popular vote or the Electoral College.
About.com, which has information on just about anything you can imagine, has a news area for kids that covers the election as well as other current events. There is also an About.com poll that asks kids who they want to be the next president. When I checked on Wednesday the count was 1,144 for Bush and 538 for Gore with 620 votes for Ralph Nader. It's far from indicative of the real world, but it's a good lesson in polling for kids. I recommend that you have your kids first check out the results of the poll and then vote two or three times to see how their vote counts again and again. It's a good way to demonstrate how unscientific Internet polls can be. Explain to them how this differs from real elections where you can vote only once (at least in theory) and polls sponsored by legitimate news organization which, when run properly, make an effort to be scientific.
Speaking of news, the Newseum (www.newseum.org) -- a great place to take the family if you're in the Washington, D.C., area -- has a Cybernewseum with an online exhibit ``Every Four Years'' with reporters' eye views of campaign coverage from 1900 to the present. The White House has a Web site where Socks, the presidential cat, and Buddy, the first dog, take you on a tour of the House that Bush and Gore are fighting over. You'll find historical information about the White House and its former occupants -- including pets in the White House and, of course, flattering biographies of its present occupants as well as Vice President and Tipper Gore.
Even though the election campaign is supposed to be over, both the Bush and Gore campaign continue to update their Web sites. Bush's Youth Zone has a number of features for kids. One interesting section of the site, ``Step Up to the Plate: Running for President is a lot like playing baseball,'' paints a refreshingly non-partisan picture of the election process by comparing the major parties to baseball leagues from spring training (the primary season) to the World Series (the election.) The only potential inaccuracies I caught were in the final paragraph: ``The candidate with the most votes on Election Day wins. The winner becomes president of the United States in January 2001.''
I voted for Al Gore, but I have to admit that Bush has better Web resources for kids and families. The Gore campaign's kids Web page is far more partisan than Bush's with a quiz based on Al and Tipper Gore's lives and accomplishments and a puzzle about the Gore family. The campaign also has a family page with links to Internet safety site and ``positive places on the Internet for families.'' You'll also find ``Internet Safety tips for Parents'' which were lifted (without permission I might add) from my own web page, www.safekids.com.
