What kids would do if they were allowed to vote for president

The website Brainly.com asked kids aged 13 to 17 what they thought of the issues of the day and how they would decide to vote. The website is a great resource for parents and kids, especially in this time when both could use all the help they can get.

The results of their survey were pretty revealing. What did the data show? Well, it showed mostly that they think like modern day Democrats, guided more by emotion than logic or substance.

The Nov. 1 issue for the kids was racial/ethnic equality in a country that's fairer and more open than almost any in the world. So why is this their No. 1 issue? It's what they see in media and social media and it's what they can process. Not economic, civics, foreign affairs. Those issues are too complex and require critical examination and thought.

It's easy to see something, often from the narrow lens of social and mainstream media, screwed to get more ratings and more views, and then react to it EMOTIONALLY. Unfortunately, that's how many adult Americans form their opinions and political choices in today's elections. Healthcare was second on their list. What do kids know about healthcare and who pays for it and how it works most efficiently? My guess would be, not much at all.

Here are some more results from Brainly's survey:

When it comes to each of the presidential candidates’ political views, policies, and qualifications, roughly 42% of students said they were somewhat informed. Another 39% said they were highly informed, while 19% said they were completely uninformed.
When it comes to the electoral college process, a whopping 25% of students said they were completely uninformed. By contrast, 46% of students said they were somewhat informed while 29% said they were highly informed.

About an equal number of students said they received most of their information about the presidential election through social media (24.1%) and broadcast TV news (24%). Online news sites were a not-so-distant third with 19.6% and parents/guardians rounded out the top four information sources with 12.5%.

Hopefully they'll get a better idea of civics and how our system works along with an accurate history and assessment of where the United States stands in the world. It's doubtful they'll get that in public school and certainly not from the media or social media. If you're a Democrat, it's good news, unless they grow out of it.

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Dennis Malloy. Any opinions expressed are Dennis' own.