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.

That is not a good thing (if it is true).

I work with two 19 year old women who have no clue who the prime minister is so it doesn’t surprise me that a 12 year old might not

I’ve just asked my 12 year old and 8 year old and neither had any idea who the prime minister is or what the parties are.

i don’t watch the news tbh, so they’re both very oblivious to what’s going on in the world.

I want them to have a carefree, worry free childhood, not be worrying about all the stabbings etc in the world

Exactly this. Many simply aren’t exposed to it much or at all these days as technology trends in particular change.
I dont even watch the news these days or have a news paper anymore. I get
it all online.

Maybe she’s not that interested in politics? It’s not nice to criticise your child - focus on the things she does like.

No but you are an adult. I wouldn’t expect a 12 year old to know the details of the subjects I listed but some people might be shocked that a 12 year old didn’t know the England rugby captain or what the Big Bang but others wouldn’t.

YABU to expect a child to find it interesting just because you do.

There are lots of people who are very anti-politics and democracy atm. I won't go into why I think that is and who that benefits but I agree that it's right to be disappointed in a 12 year old who doesn't know the prime minister's name.

On the other points, she's probably on a par with the general population and hopefully her knowledge will improve before reaching the age of majority.

No PM lasted just for a week.

The regularity that prime ministers seem to change I'm surprised anyone could remember the current one lol.

My DS def could but he's interested in politics

I knew who John Major was. For me it was about watching Prime Ministers Question Time at school - we had it on. I understood there was the conservative and labour party.

Also DF watched the Channel 4 news (was it 7pm?) Every day when he got in from work. I used to think if he didn't hear the soundtrack he wouldn't realise so I would turn it down when it came on 😄 and try it switch it over. Never worked.

Hmmm, @Eastie77Returns not sure that's a great approach.
Yes, I had a strong interest in politics from a young age but I grew up in the 80s when politics were so divisive that you had a "tribe". But back then, they said if you didn't vote Labour at 18 you were heartless and if you voted for them at 50, you were stupid.
I generally think things are a lot more fluid today.
Yes, it would be great if your daughter knew the basics and lovely if she understood the basics of politics; but if you "force the situation", she is either going to rebel or pay lip service. Neither will serve her well in her own political development.

It's kind of funny to me the amount of people using this as a stick to beat you with when they can't even retain the basics of your post!😂

I think we all knew more as children because we watched the news together on our family television. So even though we as adults are surrounded by the news our children aren't until they're older. Children won't retain all basic info that you say to them on a more rare basis. The name of the current PM isn't anymore memorable to them than any other name.

I understand what you are saying. It's not about interest in politics but general knowledge/awareness.

I'm in my 30s and I don't know much of what you've said. I didn't learn about politics until I was in my late 20s. And why does it matter?

When we were young, Margaret Thatcher was prime minimster for 11 years, the Queen was head of state for an eternity, there were 4 channels and limited news programs, centred around the UK. You would watch mews omce a day and maybe, you got the paper and read it too.
Now we and our kids are bombarded with so much information from every angle, about everything, 24/7. Multiple screens, multiple news channels, multiple stories.
Its too much to retain.

They are 12 and it’s half term..!

But you can’t be disappointed in you haven’t educated them yourself.

I wouldn't be too concerned, although lack of general knowledge in young people is always surprising.

In my few years as a teacher:
a child was astounded to find out that Earth isn't flat
thought the Great Fire of London had occurred because the bakers forgot to turn off the oven
didn't realise that night and day is different depending on your location

Does she know why it’s important? About the issues politicians talk about?

Quite honestly I think the fact that many 12 year olds also don’t know is really sad - how are you going to have an engaged public if they’re not learning this at that age? Could you introduce a weekly quiz at home or something? With a prize she’d actually want and a mix of question subjects.

Yes, exactly.

It seems people think I expect her to have an encyclopaedic knowledge and deep interest in politics. It really isn’t that.

I’m not aware of that kind of thing being taught in schools. An interested child would probably pick it up if they hear parents discussing it, if they hear it on the TV, etc. A child who is not interested probably tunes all of that out. And it would be normal at 12 to not be interested.

My DD is 15 now and I think she would have known a bit about politics at age 10-12, mainly because of the impact of COVID. We’re in NZ and every day during lockdown we used to watch Jacinda’s lunchtime briefings to the nation and then discuss. But if I asked her now who the prime minister is I’m not sure that she’d know. She will have heard of Trump obviously, but I wouldn’t think she could name any other world leaders. I guarantee that Keir Starmer would never have registered on her radar!

I just asked DD (11, Y6). She didn’t know the name of our PM, but could name the President of the United States (and was able to tell us that he’s orange, as a bonus fact ). She could name the King, but not the Queen or the heir to the throne. They just absorb different things, I suppose!

I think it may say as much about Keir Starmer though @Eastie77Returns that he is just not memorable - I mean you called him Kier.

There are some leaders who people remember Donald Trump/Abraham Lincoln forever be remembered Grover Cleveland/Martin Van Buren not so much.

And Starmer is very much the latter. But I think it is true of a lot of the labour cabinet I think fatigue in the whole thing from the COVID/Liz Triss debacle

now if Nigel Farage gets in I expect a much higher recognition rate

This thread is interesting in light of the proposals to allow 16-year-olds to vote (which was in the Labour manifesto - so it probably won't happen). Here we have a 12-year-old who doesn't know who the PM is, doesn't know how our parliamentary democracy or political parties work, yet in 2029 she will have to judge the record of these parties before she votes in the General Election.

I struggle to know and I'm a grown up...we had a lot of changes