Teaching Love in Election Season

You can open almost any US-based social feed these days and crack open a world of conflict.

Democrats hate Republicans and vice versa. Conservatives hate Liberals and Liberals accuse all Conservatives of being idiots. It seems most strongly dislike both likely Presidential candidates. On every side, no one trusts Donald Trump nor Hilary Clinton. It's a year of voting against one candidate, not for the other.
    One common thread running through it all: everyone hates everyone else who doesn't think like them."If you're not on my side, you're a brain-washed moron or a liar." "If you don't think like me, you're not thinking for yourself."
    Wait - WHAT?
    The reality is, when it comes to religion and politics, no one seems capable of thinking for themselves. The same goes for the accusations of racism flying through our country today. If you dig deep enough, you may even find our wonderful, self-serving media and the politicians themselves are driving all this divisiveness. By keeping us pitted against each other, we fail to point a critical eye at those who are driving all that anger and so they manage to stay in power.
    As a parent, I want my daughter to grow up treating others as human beings with individual thoughts and feelings, and above all else, I want her to learn to think for herself. This seems almost impossible with the constant blast of rhetoric and drama that seems to pervade almost every form of communication lately. We're still four months out...
    What can we do to ensure the hate doesn't bleed into our kids? First of all, don't expose younger children (under 13) to political "talk" shows and "news" shows. The last thing they need soaking into their impressionable little brains is all that negativity. Children that age shouldn't have social media access anyway, but if they do, now might be a good time to take a break. Now through, say, mid-November.
    With teens, it's a good time to start talking about the political system. Teach them NOT to buy into the rhetoric. Teach them how to research a candidate's voting history (if available), background, and where they stand on platforms that are important to your teen (not you). Avoid stereotyping a candidate based on race, gender, age, political party, religion...you get the drift. Have intelligent conversations with your teen - ask your teen where s/he stands on certain platforms and why.  If needed, explain what some of those platforms mean.
     Whatever you do, DON'T repeat hate speak in front of your child or teen. Don't agree with any you hear. By doing so, you are dooming your progeny to a life of manipulation and narrow-mindedness that will absolutely limit your child's opportunities in life. What your child needs from you is to learn how to THINK, not how to mimic, repeat or buy into party lines. Teach your child to ask one simple question, "why should I believe that?"
    If you find your child is repeating some of the garbage you hear out there in the political world, put a stop to it immediately.
    Use this election year as an opportunity to teach your youngsters love and logic. Teach your child that people can't be easily classified into buckets - that each individual is far more than the candidate he or she votes for or the political party with which he's associated. And for Heaven's sake, teach your kids they CAN be friends with people who have opinions that differ from their own.