Posted in Education

Third-graders talk about government shutdown

   October 3, 2013

My daughter Tricia teaches third graders. She talked to her class about the federal government shutdown.

“We talked about what a budget is (I compared it to their family’s budget at home) and we said that the people in Congress are fighting about it,” Tricia shared. “I explained that this means a lot of people can’t go to their jobs right now and aren’t getting paid, and places like National Parks, the Naval Aviation Museum, and the Smithsonian museums are closed.

She said after a few students talked about how this wasn’t fair, she got these insights:

“Now I see why it’s important not to argue, because it can affect a lot of people.”

“I can see why they couldn’t make a decision. It’s a really hard job and they have a lot to decide on that’s important. They need to shut down so they can think about things.”

We need more third-graders in Congress and fewer two-year-olds.

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