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.

same can be said for 18 years old who can vote.

How many really get the separation of powers between the judiciary, the Government and Parliament. What a Statute is and the process from Green Paper to Bill to Statute and what a Statutory Instrument is. And indeed the difference between Guidance and law

I know what you mean. Screens have fried their minds and kids nowadays seem to be fine with not knowing anything about the actual world around them. When I was that age I was reading the papers and news magazines and knew a lot about the world. I could name all the capitals and knew the flags, heads of states, that sort of thing. My parents didn't have to do anything to encourage it. My kids weren't even bothered to read the First News or The Week Junior magazines I used to buy for them. After years of trying to get them to read them and just me reading them I cancelled

When I mentioned Brexit to a colleague in 2019 she thought Margaret Thatcher was PM. I’m not living in the UK but was still horrified.

Shock horror, some 12 year old girls have no interest in politics 🙄

I certainly had no interest in politics until I was in my 30's and became a parent.

We don’t do quizzes or anything but will have a chat around the dinner table about issues in the news. So for example we talked about the proposed benefits cuts and I throw out questions to get her views on things. She does have opinions. During the election she was aware of some the differences between our MP (Tory) and the Labour candidate as she read the leaflets.

But today when we were shown into the House of Commons it transpired she didn’t understand the Conservative and Labour are different parties. She didn’t know or recall Labour won the election. And that is fine. DS knew all of this but he is clearly interested. I was just thrown when it became clear she had no idea who Starmer is - a very basic piece of information.

no. I don’t know who the woman is? And I don’t read the news because it’s depressing af so I’d rather not drench my brain with the sad state of affairs. I don’t think it makes people better than me because they know random people’s names who will be out of their job by next week because they resigned for some debauched reason. I love art and philosophy and history and activism. What does your daughter love? What is she interested in? And why do you place such emphasis on knowing who is in office? I mean sure the PM but anyone else?? I mean what do people do with all this sophisticated knowledge other than bitch to their husband or friends who all have mainly the same political sensibilities as them anyway? How many people who devour the telegraph or guardian or any bloody paper ever actually do anything to change things, other than just sit around privately lamenting how shit everything is?

I only know Starmer and Reeves. Can’t name anyone else in the cabinet and I’m mid-30s. I lost all interest in politics and stopped watching the news, left Twitter, etc. during Covid.

I’ve just got absolutely no interest in any of it and I’m not even slightly ashamed of that. I am genuinely happier living under a rock. 😊

When I was doing sociology A level, an 18 year old in my class didn’t know who the PM was, or which party was in power! It’s a bit of a worry for democracy, but I do think there will always be some people who have next to no interest in politics.

Knowing who the prime minister is isn’t just another fascinating fact though is it, it’s extremely important to understand the political system so you can engage with it/object to it/work with people in power. Much more useful really than how far the sun is from the earth or algebra or even how an ox bow lake is formed - but we were doing all those things in year 6 ie by 11 years old. The fact that there is no compulsory education whatsoever* on how the country is run or the political parties (or even right/left) or even things like who runs the police - to me that’s one of the reasons WHY lots of kids aren’t interested. How can you be interested in something you don’t understand? IMO schools are too scared to bring politics into teaching much for fear of disclosing their own views.

*I want to be wrong, am I wrong?

it’s extremely important to understand the political system so you can engage with it/object to it/work with people in power.

Maybe when you’re an adult - although how many of us work with people in power? Age 12 not so much.

The younger might know more of he's at primary because DD watched newsround most days.
My DD is 13 and I just asked her, she had no idea. But we don't really talk about politics at home and she said she doesn't learn about 'stuff like that' at school. Im sure she will in PSHE but a that has focussed on relationships this school year

You’re joking right?

My 4 year old knows who the prime minister is, but I have Radio 4 on in the car and spend a lot of time ranting politically while driving.

DS says being PM sounds v hard and he would rather be a pokemon trainer.

DD2 still operates on the belief its the monarchy that makes the decisions, as she is very much in her princess era.

@WitcheryDivine no I don’t think you are wrong and I think is the issue

I know what you mean but I don’t mean directly with politicians etc. I’d say we all work with people in power - whether that’s our bosses (and their bosses etc if you’re in a big company) or when we have to deal with the council or apply for benefits or deal with schools or ask a doctor for help, or ask the bank for a business loan etc. Power is everywhere and many of those people will eventually at the top of their ladder have someone either in politics or someone who lobbies politicians. If you’re at school then the council deals with things like your buses and the government sticks its oar in about what you’re being taught. If kids never learn these structures they’re just in a sea of helplessness where things are done to them. And yes even if you understand them it can be like that but you’ll at least have a basic idea of how to try to get change even if that’s at a local level or within your workplace/school etc.

I'm honestly amazed that people don't think a 12-year-old should know who the Prime Minister is!

Yeah, if she was four it might be understandable but 12? She should absolutely know.

@Eastie77Returns sounds like a great trip though - would you recommend it ?

I'm certainly not amazed by this but personally I'd be disappointed. I think it's very common now for people, and not just children, to not look things up and no take an interest in anything beyond a narrow range, like the latest video game or Netflix series.
DS was very young when he could recognise the then Prime Minister on TV and the US president. He was also into countries, capitals and flags etc but that's probably because we're the kind of family we are. Looking up stuff, vocabulary, etc is just something we do whether it's who was the actor in such and such film or where is Kazakhstan.

I've just asked my 14 and 12 yo's.
14yo listed back in order from Starmer to May. Stalled at Cameron, but he was 5 when he resigned. He's a geo-political nerd though.

12 yo looked slightly panicked, answered Johnson, then Truss then wild carded to Musk. Better than totally clueless. Part of it is because DS1 is a show-off nerd with a patronising edge, DS2 often would rather play up playing daft than risk being genuinely caught out and he tends to shut off from topics that DS1 is interested in rather than risking trying to keep up.

In a class of 12yos I'd realisitically expect a mixed bag of awareness. Probably worse now than than previously due to a substantial turnover of PMs in recent years (there were enough that struggled even when it had only been Blair/ Major in their lifetimes) plus media is more polarised now.

DS1 picks up quite a lot from radio news bulletins which goes over DS2's head more.

I am fairly shocked there are 12 year olds who don’t know who the prime minister is. It is basic general knowledge and awareness of the world around you.

This is how I learned about politics; my dad ranting. He'd read the paper in the morning and have a rant, he'd rant throughout news programmes and rant through Question Time. I still remember the great rant of 1979 when Thatcher got in.

TBF it's pretty hard to keep up these days. We've had five PMs and seven Chancellors in the last eight years plus Christ alone knows how many ministers. I swear they were drawing lots for who sat where towards the end of Tory-time.

But if you think it's something she needs to know I guess you could always explain it all to her.

My then six year-old genuinely thought that Cameron's name was Bumface.

Could have been worse. Could have been Bumface Twat.

I felt really sorry for old people taking capacity tests at the end of 2022 being asked who the PM was.

I do think it's worthwhile children knowing how government and local government works - even the bare bones, like who does the roads, lets you build a house, takes your rubbish out or who decides what tax we pay, proposes new laws, negotiates with other countries. And what parties are, and voting systems. At least by the time they go to uni/start work/start voting.