Thursday’s General Election, can give parent’s time to ask their children what are the key issues that are important to them, to help those parents make their voting decision. For after all, what happens in the next 5 years can make a significant difference to the planet. And the state of the climate and the state of the planet will make a profound difference to our young people’s future and inevitably the state of the economy.
During this election campaign, I have been helping our local Green Party Candidate, and whilst I have been out and about, I have had some interesting conversations.
The one that left me most thrilled was a Dad, walking along with his 8 or 9 year old son. His son had become very aware of climate change, the need for us all to be making swift and large changes and he was leading that change in his family. He had persuaded his Dad, that the environment was the most important thing to consider - and so his Dad was going to be voting Green. But this clever boy had taken things further than just helping his Dad to settle on his voting choice in this vital election. When I met them, they had just been on a shopping spree, to buy presents for his siblings. They had been to several Charity shops in the High Street and bought pre-loved, lovely soft toys and some games. The young boy was delighted, because he had not furthered waste, but recycling, he had been allowed to live to his principles. The Dad was delighted too, because his relationship with his son had grown because he had genuinely listened to his son, he was validating his son by taking actions that clearly demonstrated that he valued his son’s perspectives and could see that taking the long view is far more important than being wooed by ever multiplying promises being thrown around to buy votes. Also, by listening to his son’s wishes he had saved himself money.
As this happy pair bounced off home, I was considering that this young lad will have had his self-confidence boosted significantly in this process, with life long benefits. It really was a thrilling experience to witness.
