How would you feel if your 16 year old DS wanted to become a 'young conservative'

[BigSandyBalls2015]

That is all!
Opinions please.

Gutted.

I'd feel like a total failure as a parent, tbh. That's my personal view.

I don't think some people on the left have thought about quite how badly they come across, and how heckling people is far more likely to harden opposing views rather than bring people onside - They don't care. Just like they didn't care to listen to Brexit supporters in the run up to Brexit ... instead they just bashed them without trying to reason with them then acted all shocked and horrified when Leave 'won'.

The moral superiority from the left on here is vomit inducing and i'm not even a conservative voter 😂

Again, not everyone on this thread who dislikes the Tories is a Labour voter. Or even left wing. There's plently of horror about some Tory parties from the increasingly empty middle ground.

However if he became a virtue- signalling Social Justice Warrior i would be fcking devastated*

Ha ha, word!

"Whichever party,let's hope he isn't as intolerant, closed minded and plain unpleasant as some on this thread"

What, for saying they would be disappointed if their child followed a path that they found distasteful?

I would also be disappointed if my child smoked, was a climate change denier, used porn or had no interest in the ethics of consumerism. Does that make me intolerant, closed minded and unpleasant?

I'd be thrilled he's interested and engaged and look forward to some lively debates.
My DFil is a dyed in the wool, hardline eurosceptic Tory. Before DH was born, he was a member of the Monday Club, worked for (and still idolises) Enoch Powell and is extremely religious.
I'm very much left of centre, half Asian and an atheist. We adore each other and get on very well, although, tbf he has mellowed with age!
Falling out over politics is childish and overly defensive. You can't have much courage in your convictions if you won't have them challenged.

The moral superiority from the left on here is vomit inducing and i'm not even a conservative voter

I agree - way to put off floating voters!

Whatever politics or religion my dc discover as they grow is their own business. As long as they're not prejudiced or slaughtering goats in my kitchen it's their concern.

"The moral superiority from the left on here is vomit inducing and i'm not even a conservative voter"

You're obviously reading a different thread.

**I would also be disappointed if my child smoked, was a climate change denier, used porn or had no interest in the ethics of consumerism. Does that make me intolerant, closed minded and unpleasant?

Comparing watching porn to voting democratically for a party of their choice! Then my answer would be yes you are intolerant, closed minded and unpleasant!

This is weird. People have answered honestly, and in some cases, the answer is that they would be disappointed. And this translates as 'angst and horror', 'virtue signalling' and 'heckling people'! Seems to me more like the heckling is coming from the people who can't begin to understand that we all have a sense of the values we wouldn't want to see in our own children....

I would be disappointed - I'd be very, very, surprised, but if it did happen, I would be disappointed that my own child embraced values and ideologies that I find insupportable. What's so odd about that?

I'd conclude he had a better grasp of economics than his older siblings
But would be privately concerned that he was missing out on youthful idealism

Laura you have misunderstood Bertrand I think - she was not offering a metaphor in which watching porn is the same thing as being a Tory, she was saying they're all things she would be disappointed to see her child do. List, not comparison. As in, I do not like Mrs Brown's Boys or tuna or Jacob Rees Mogg. I don't think they are all the same thing, though.

His choice. I would have been at the time if I had political ambitions .. though I’m labour now it’s not your choice to restrict his achievements or influence his political choice.

I'd be really pleased that they were taking an interest in politics and the future of the country. I'd also be quite impressed that they'd thought about it and decided to form different political views to their family - instead of just swallowing their family's politics wholesale.

"Comparing watching porn to voting democratically for a party of their choice! Then my answer would be yes you are intolerant, closed minded and unpleasant!"

I'm not comparing it. I am giving examples of things that my child might do that would disappoint me. Because they are things I feel strongly about. Why would I not be disappointed if my child did them?

There's plently of horror about some Tory parties from the increasingly empty middle ground

But if you are conservative and disagree with some of the policies then surely joining the party actually gives you some influence? Most conservative voters don't agree with all the policies. Bit like 'labour supporters' don't agree with everything.

But yes the middle is empty, well I sit there and swing.....

SeekEveryEveryKnownHidingPlace - No I haven't misunderstood at all!

So you do know she wasn't saying watching porn is the same as being a YC, then?

"SeekEveryEveryKnownHidingPlace - No I haven't misunderstood at all!"

Yes you have!

I would be a bit worried I think, the type of young man who is drawn to the young Conservatives at 16 doesn't tend to be particularly socially well adjusted. So I'd be worried that he wasn't feeling happy.

I'd be a bit disappointed that he didn't agree with my political views (I'm in Labour and have certainly attempted indoctrination). But I'd also be pleased that he was attracted to a mainstream political party as it's so easy for young men to get dragged into the horrible Milo end of the right. I'd hope that he was attracted to the Ken Clarke moderate end of the Conservatives and had compassion for the less well off but a different approach to solving those problems. I would find it difficult if he was the Boris Johnson selfish bastard end of the party. I'd hope he grew out of it.

I would be a bit horrified personally, but, as Seeline says, at least they'd be showing an interest in politics. It's a democracy and it functions best when we have a range of views, wide political engagement and a population who think politics matters and is worth taking an active part in, and respects those who do take part.

It annoys me when I meet people don't question the beliefs they were brought up with or get from the media - usually these are along the lines of "the Labour Party are dangerous Marxists" or "the Greens are tree-hugging fantasists", but I guess I can't have it both ways, so I hope my children do question their own family's beliefs.

I think it's also important to note that the thread asks how would you feel - not 'what you would do' - I would feel disappointed; what I would do is keep on arguing. Not disown her, or anything of the sort. Which is perfectly reasonable, I would have thought.