Civics 101

Thanks to my great friend Don, I was made aware of the national effort to hold local tea parties on tax day. I located the party nearest to us and since it was just up the street, decided to take part.
The kids and I made posters and I tried to explain on their level what it was all about. I wanted to do video clips of them each explaining their signs but they froze up when I tried to record them, so I'll just write it out.

Joey carried a sign based on the famous Gadsden flag. He learned that Ben Franklin used the rattlesnake to symbolize our country in the early days because the snake would give ample warning, but once it began to strike back, would not stop. The colonists warned the King many times that they would not continue to stand for the mistreatment, but finally struck back.
In his words,
"My sign has a rattlesnake and says 'don't tread on me' that means do not step on me or jump on me because we will fight back. The government is spending our money without asking us, that is wrong. It is like stealing. I'm hiding my money. I'm pretty sure stealers shouldn't be our leaders. If I were the leader I would not steal, I would make good rules, like, 'don't litter'. If the leaders keep doing this we will say,'you're fired!' just like the 'You're fired!' show. And we will dump our tea into the sea."

Jessi's thoughts:
"Taxes are when we all give a little bit of our money for the government to use for things we all need, like roads and the Army. But, then they decide to spend it on stupid things and there is no more money for the things we need. That is SO wrong! I thought they were good guys, would they treat their own wife and kids like this? NO! So why are they trying to do it to us? My Daisies verse says to 'treat everyone with respect' and they are not respecting us! I think the police should stop them."

Jessi actually had two signs, one that she created completely on her own and one that I planned out and she colored, cut, and pasted. Her personal sign is below. She says it is a judge banging his hammer and telling the government guys to stop wasting money.The large sign she carried at the tea party was this one:

Joy's opinion was brief, but heartfelt:
"Stop taking my money, I'm just a kid and that is RUDE."

I tried to make this a true learning opportunity and not just have it be about me using the kids holding signs for a good photo op. At several points when we were disucssing the wording, they wanted to include epithets like "stinky-head" and I made sure to tell them that even when we don't like them, we must respect them. The way to change things is not to call ugly names, but to first ask them to stop, and if that doesn't work, tell them that we won't choose them again next time. ... I think they learned that lesson better than many adults I know.

As far as the gathering itself, I was pleased with the results. It was a very cold and wet day, but I know there were several hundred people there. We got there a bit late and stayed for about an hour. I know that at least one Congressman was there, hopefully he got the message.

For the most part the signs were quite bipartisan, addressing the issues and not trying to lay blame on one party or another.

Yes, Jonny was there, you can see the top of his bumble bee hat in the picture with Uncle Sam above.

I think that all in all, it was a great opportunity for the kids to see and participate, and it certainly made it more interesting for them than just having a lesson about it.