So the election at our house was interesting. The kids had a ball learning about what an incumbent was, why some states had more electoral votes than others, and while you're cruising CNN's website all sorts of things pop up that kids can ask questions about.
There was an interactive map you could click and make states win for certain candidates They had a lot of fun with that. Likewise they enjoyed watching numbers shift from minute to minute.
Now you'd think I could rant about who ran for President, the tax increase, or the legalization of marijuana, but no. My complaint involves my kids and our schools!
Each of my children's schools were polling places. The high school, middle school, and the elementary school. Now, I understand these are government buildings. I get that for years and years they have been polling places. What I don't get is inviting the general public into our schools, during a school day, while my kids are there and letting them do their civic duty. Pedophiles and criminals have the right to vote. (I'll admit, I don't know the rule on where they have to vote.)
My point remains, this doesn't make one bit of sense to me.
Schools in the last thirteen years have really cracked down on security. Doors lock. You enter only one way. You check in...etc. I realize that the polling areas are usually away from the masses of kids, but Kindergarten loads and unloads at least twice a day. The kids have to go through the halls where the general public is to get to certain classes.
In our district our teachers are forced to have furlough days. Days where the county can't pay the teachers to come to school. So why not use election day as one of those days. How about the days we have "no student contact" days? Wouldn't it make sense for the teachers to have that day to get caught up and keep the kids away from those who are only there to vote?
Okay, maybe I'm silly. Well, no I'm not. I'm not the only person who considered keeping their kids home on election day. Yes, I know. Not everyone can take off a Tuesday. I get it, I really do. But with our kids' safety at stake, isn't there a better place to have voting than in our schools?
This is just this momma's opinion and I have shared it. The best part about America is that I have the right to share it and you have the right to your own opinion. We don't have to be enemies if we don't see eye to eye, but as American's we are free to walk away and not agree.
Embrace your freedoms and if you think something needs to be changed go forth and begin that change.
lol - I know my kid isn't in a school where voting occurs, but that's OK, I still have an opinion. I agree with you that this is very difficult having the public vote in a school, especially because in the past there was no security watching where the people went when I voted at schools. I think taking a furlough day is an excellent idea. If a kid isn't visible to a pedophile, then there is no temptation to target that kid. Period. This may seem like an over-reaction, but having had a child already in the hands of a pedophile, it's not worth even having a child's face exposed to one, unnecessarily, and with permission to be there, rather than suspiciously parked near a school with a chance of being turned in. OK, my two cents' worth...
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