A while back, I visited my 3rd grade son's classroom. At my kids' school, the teachers often hang examples of the childrens' most recent projects or homeworks on the wall of the hallway.
Apparently, they had recently covered some lessons in civics or government because there were about twenty answers by 8-9 year-olds to the statement "If I were president, I would . . ."
I was struck my the large majority of responses that wanted to ban something or outlaw something, with a belief that there are no tough trade-offs, and anything the president wants, he could simply get. I enjoyed reading the responses, but it is a bit unsettling to see that many people's political views don't progress much from 3rd grade.
For your enjoyment, here are a few examples (I've corrected all the typos and grammatical issues, of which there were many, and made a few educated guesses about words in places)
- End global warming. I would end bullying. I would give a speech to do it.
- I would make everything FREE from diapers to bottles. I would make new tanks for the army.
- I would make police nice.
- I would make everything a dime.
- I would make people get paid more for their jobs.
- I would stop animal cruelty.
- I would make everything free. So when you need something you could get it because it would be free. So if you needed a car to get somewhere it would be free so you could get it and go.
- I would make it illegal to slaughter animals and make it make it to where you can bring animals in the store. They just have to be on a leash. And you could have a zebra.
- Make it illegal for children to have soda.
- Instruct architects to build houses for the poor, make school tests easier, and let people in college have more time with their family.
- I would end all crime.
- People can have pet tigers for free. Lots of people can own mansions. Taxes will not be high. There will be no war and everybody can be happy.
- Ban war. I would make sure no war is happening in America. The army will be able to take a break. I would also ban drugs because they are dangerous.
And, the award for the child most likely to succeed in politics goes to this response:
- I would have the teachers get paid more.
In case you're curious, here is my son's response:
- It would only be $1 for everything. Ice cream would be $0 and so would candy. It would be great.
I wonder if he'll get to debate the little fellow who wants to ban soda? As you'll see from the picture below, his spelling skills are about like his dad's (thanks be to spell-checkers and copy-editors!).
