Pause.: Talking politics on the playground

In fifth grade to learn about the voting process my class held a mock election for the 1996 presidential race. I can't remember who won, but I do remember I voted for Ross Perot because I liked his ears.

These days it appears kids take politics a tad more seriously than I did.

The Associated Press article, Kids love campaign 2008 on MSNBC, talks about Eyck Freymann, the 13-year-old writer of the political blog Opinions and Analysis from the Young Sentinel.

And whoa is this blog impressive.

It contains links to many major new organizations and blogs (Al Jazeera, International Herald Tribune News and The Politico to name a few), an eye-catching layout and well-thought out, well written posts.

Freymann doesn't just post what others are saying of the election, he analyzes the election himself.

For example, on Wednesday he wrote:

For a while now I have been torn between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Clinton has a more comprehensive health plan and would be, I believe, a strong President. Obama, on the other hand, could unify the party and would probably stand a better chance of beating McCain in November. After Super Tuesday, the two Democrats are locked in a dead heat, but I am beginning to question Obama's electability. Last night when analyzing the exit polls, I noticed a disturbing trend.

In the end he said:

I still believe that Obama is more electable with Clinton, but we can't take it for granted.

It's interesting that Freymann doesn't put his age on the blog, and makes me wonder if those posting realize the author is in eight grade.

Freymann may be the most knowledgable child on politics out there, but he not the only one.

Take this YouTube video of three young sisters talking politics:

(I think the Obama campaign should embrace the "If it can't be our mama, it has to be Obama" slogan)

Parents are clearly a big part of this political interest in children but for as long as I can remember the children's channel, Nickelodeon, has also embraced politics and brought it to its viewers.

And this year for the first time the network held a primary election Jan. 18. On the Web site it said:

So what if you can't officially vote until you're 18? You can still be a part of the political process RIGHT NOW! Nickelodeon's letting YOU pick the issues AND the president.

Obama and John McCain won the kid's primary.

On Nickelodeon's Kids Pick the President main page, kids can learn more about the candidates and have discussions on message boards, which range from pleas against for/against Hillary Clinton to endorsements for Mike Huckabee to discussions on immigration.

There are also several cartoon videos explaining voting. Here an example: