Last Wednesday my family and I did.
Yes, the whole family. Although not all of them could stay awake to watch the entire thing (my eight and eleven year old fell asleep) I was okay with that; I know some adults who couldn't either.
It started at dinner when we got onto some random political topic my teenager brought up. Then, my eight year old son expressed who he might want to vote for, given the chance. I asked him some 'Why's' and 'Where does the candidate stand on that' type of questions, and he wasn't sure, except for 'I heard this' and 'I heard that'. I told him the best thing for him to do would be to watch a debate (and do some homework on the candidate he was rooting for). That way, he could make an educated decision.
The irony of the conversation was that we realized the debate was going to be coming on in the next hour. (Hey, we know we keep our kids up late for other 'special' events, so why not this one?)
During the debate it was interesting to see the different reactions in the room ( I had some of my own) The most interesting of them all had to have been my my son's apparent disbelief and (possible) disgust about a half an hour into the debate. He was ughing and sighing, slapping his forehead (sort of like he does when the Browns drop yet another pass).
As the night wore on, he turned to me and shook his head. I asked him what he thought now, and he said he wasn't too sure he would be sticking with his original choice.
Excited about the children having an interest in the debate, I posted these questions on our kitchen message board the next morning for my family to answer:
That's why I will let them watch the next one.
Will you be letting your children watch the rest of
the scheduled debates on:
October 11, 16, and 22nd?
Want a recap on the first presidential debate on October 3rd click here.