Voting, studies show, is a learned habit; Tuesday's a chance to start instilling it in your children. And they might even enjoy it.
I've been writing a lot about the need to create an American culture of voting. That's what exists in places with high turnout, and that's what the Take Back Tuesday campaign aims to help create.
Culture is passed down from one generation to the next, so this election season I'm planning to take my two older sons (Baby Izzy can wait till 2014) to the polling station (which, I should point out, is located in the lobby of my apartment building).
Not just to the polling station but into the booth. Wait—is that legal? Yeah, you can show your kids what goes on behind the curtain as long as they're younger than 18. The process, with the machine and booth, is likely to captivate young children, and older ones—well, they probably won't mind it. It's a chance, in any case, to start a tradition that they may someday pass down.
Ideally, Election Day would be a national holiday, a civic celebration, and a trip to the polls with family and friends would be just one among several communal, festive activities. Till then, and to that end, create your own celebratory customs, bring your children to the polls, Take Back Tuesday.
This post is part of the Take Back Tuesday campaign to make Voting Day a national holiday. Sign up or encourage your company to join in at takebacktuesday.good.is.
Illustration by Tyler Hoehne
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