To think a 12 year old should know who the Prime Minister is?

[Eastie77Returns]

If you have a pre-teen, can they name the Prime Minister/President of the country they live in?

I took DD and DS on a child friendly tour of the Houses of Parliament today. I found it really disappointing that DD was a bit clueless. Couldn't name Kier Starmer, couldn't name Kemi Badenoch, didn't understand the concept of a ruling party vs a party in opposition (so thinks Labour and the Tories are both 'the government'). DS was really engaged and answered questions correctly on an interactive quiz. He is two years younger than DD. Surely a child of her age should know at least some of that stuff or am I being completely unreasonable? At her age I knew who Margaret Thatcher was, as did all of my friends.

We do talk about politics in an age appropriate way at home and I took both of them to vote with me in the general election last year, explained the process etc but obviously she didn't retain any of the information.

I think I just find it disappointing that she seems completely uninterested in what goes on in the world around her. She spent most of the tour complaining that I made her leave her mobile at home. I don't know if I'm just expecting too much.

Each to their own.

For me, building a strong relationship with my child and celebrating their individuality is more important than moulding them in my shape.

I wasn't interested in politics at 12. My parents didn't force it down my throat. Guess what I read at university...

Exactly where are you expecting her to get this information from.
because it isn’t Year 7 curriculum!

OK bad example but you know what I mean

12’s a bit old to be that duh.

Embarrassing but easily fixable with the Sunday papers lying around. Not on the phone.

Given that in the last 5yrs the PM has changed so frequently- I think it's unfair.

You cannot compare a childhood of the decade long type governments of Thatcher, Major or Blair we had to what has gone on over her childhood. She's had 6 PM's since she was 5-6yrs old!

Not the same. You're being unfair.

@Eastie77Returns she’s 12. 12 year old girls have other priorities. Heck as a 41 year old I avoid politics (used to follow avidly, but it’s a mess at the moment).

You might want to saddle up op because I can assure you if you're this easily disappointed you've got one hell of a decade coming up!

I use to do class quizzes in Secondary School. General Knowledge questions including current affairs, football, music, geography etc. Most liked the team quiz.
It kept me on my toes as I had to listen to current music, know about footie etc.
I would get the kids to make up some questions themselves.
A bit of fun within the year groups or house groups.

I think that’s OK at that age. They have been chopping and changing a lot recently. Long-serving PMs like Thatcher and Blair cut through more.

To be honest I’m ok with her knowing I’m a bit disappointed. She’s quite competitive and definitely wasn’t impressed when I praised DS for his knowledge so I think she’ll now try to retain some of the basics.

It would have worked the opposite for me. Praising my younger brother for his knowledge would have made me not interested and making a point of not knowing to show how unimportant and uninterested I was in that subject.

I think you’re being massively unfair. My interest in politics when I was 12 was zero. I was incapable of understanding enough about it to take any interest at all, it had no impact on me or my life. As an adult it became one of my main interests and has continued that way. She’s a child, politics are an adult concern.

@Eastie77Returns she isn’t you and she doesn’t have your interests so?

I have 2 DD is 16 and is academically brilliant on course for 8/9s in her GCSEs but sometimes lacks general and common knowledge - goes to grammar school but doesn’t always know things we go gently joke about it
DS is 12 and is hot on these things can retain facts and information (could answer the football questions and politics) even told me and DH India had attacked Pakistan becuase his interested in it - and uses Social Media and the internet for his sources. Is no way as academic as DD

Well if you think it’s important you need to teach her I guess. Put Newsround on. Subscribe to First News or The Week Junior and encourage her to read them. Talk about politics and current affairs with them regularly.
But I think it’s a personality thing too. Personally I have two teens. One reads widely, asks questions about the news and knows what’s going on. He’s 12. The other, 10, knows and cares less.

Seriously?!?

’most countries’?

there are around 200 countries in the world, and even I would struggle to get into double figures when correctly listing their leaders; if your sons can name most of them, they must be near-geniuses!!!

I teach teenagers.

In a mixed-ability class of, say, Y10, probably around 1/10 could name Keir Starmer as current PM.

Probably a similar number would guess Boris Johnson. Might have a couple of Trump wildcards.

Once they've studied An Inspector Calls they start to grasp socialist vs capitalist a bit, which helps.

The one that gets to me most often is the HUGE number of them, in different schools and over a number of years so not just one cohort, who think it's all one word, "priminister".

It’s not so much that she isn’t interested in Politics and more the fact she doesn’t know a very simple but salient fact about the country she lives in?

I would expect her know who King Charles is but have zero expectation for her to have any interest in the monarchy itself. She should know the capital of England is London but again, it’s absolutely fine if she has no interest in Geography. And so on.

The 1st prime minister i remember was Harold Wilson , I was well below 12 then, probably about 6. Not sure i really understood the concept of what he did, but I knew the name.

So I would say yes. A 12 Yr old should know who the pm is.

Why would you expect all 12 year olds to be interested in politics when a vast proportion of adults are not interested in politics
are you interested in the financial markets?
Can you name the captains of England’s rugby and cricket teams?
Who is currently at number one in the download charts?
Do you understand the situation in Gaza, Ukraine and Pakistan? Can you explain the history behind these three conflict zones?
Do you understand the science behind climate change?
How many species have become extinct over the past 15 years?

We always watch newsround so that the children know what’s happening in the world, sometimes they watch it at school. Year 4/5

It is for this exact reason we made some changes in my house last year. We put the news on the TV at 6pm in the background in the hope they overhear things. We get the paper delivered 3 times a week and leave them lying around. Dh often leaves it spread open across the breakfast bar / kitchen counter in the hope they accidentally read an occasional headline. I can't say it has worked but I'm hoping they have picked up a few things by osmosis.

Even if you talk about it at home, they do zone out and not really listen. I have one dc politics obsessed, the other just let it drift over him. Both present for the same conversations, but they only absorb the stuff they're interested in.

What we do is "news" over dinner every night
Their news, my news, national news, local news. I'm amazed how much ive learned about YouTube stuff.

I personally think YABU unreasonable to expect a pre-teen to have a huge interest in politics. I don't think most people that age have much ability to look too far beyond their own world and things like friends, crushes, music, football, etc. And honestly, it's not a bad thing, and is a normal part of development imo. I don't want children worrying about the cost of living crisis and the horrors in Gaza. They have their whole lives for that. As soon as they use social media, they will be blasted with horrible news 24/7. That's not to say they shouldn't have awareness of how the country is run and different types of struggles people have ofc, as that teaches you about compassion and privilege.

YANBU to expect her to know the name of the prime minister though. That's basic general knowledge.

I also think now we restrict screen time and it's all streaming. I wasn't constantly watching TV in the sense I was plonked in front of it watching cartoons, but it was often on in the background. My dad in particular had the news on three times a day.

I was always naturally interested in politics, even as a child, as I've always liked debating and have a strong sense of justice. Some people hate politics, and that's okay too. As an adult I personally think you have moral responsibility to educate yourself about politics and to vote, but children do not hold that obligation. She will 100% pick up more knowledge throughout school and as she goes on the internet more. If you're bothered, put the news on in the morning and discuss it over breakfast.

The first time some of my friends showed an interested was when the coalition government raised tuition fees!

Well those are all questions about very specific topics.

As I’ve said upthread, I do not expect her to be interested in politics. ‘Name your country’s Prime Minister’ is not the same as expecting a deep knowledge of politics.

I don’t even know who the prime minister is

I don't understand how you can't know as an adult, unless you live off the grid and never use a phone or the internet.