I spent an hour with 2 different groups of students at the school recently. One session was with 1^st and 2^nd graders, the next session with 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th graders. I like to spend at least an hour when I go in to visit with students. It takes them a little while to get warmed up, but the wait is always worth the time invested. This day was no exception.

We always talk about government, what its purpose is, how it works and the processes involved. Then we actually divide into a House of Representatives and a Senate. I always choose a President and Vice President.

We started today like all other days, the 1^st and 2^nd graders were the first group and they warmed quickly to the discussion.

 

Q:   What is the purpose of government?

A:   It is to tell us how to live.

 

Q: How does it tell us how to live?

A: It makes rules.

 

Q:   What are those rules called?

A: Laws.

 

Q:   What are some examples of laws?

A: Don’t kill, don’t take other peoples things (steal), and don’t speed.

 

At this point I was pretty impressed, these are answers I don’t always get in much older students, so I decided to push on a bit and was really amazed.

 

Q: Before we had the United States government to pass laws where did laws come from?

A: Jesus.

 

Q: Pretty good but where did laws come from before Jesus?

A: Moses i.e. the Ten Commandments.

 

Now I was wowed! Our current laws originate in this country from the Judeo-Christian foundation of the 10 Commandments, don’t kill, don’t steal, and don’t lie. Not many adult Bible classes connect the dots that well. Keep in mind the teachers were all on the sidelines, no one was coaching the kids, I was not leading them…they just had the picture in mind. 1^st and 2^nd grade.

So now, we set about dividing the room into the Senate and House. We decided to pass a law on speed limits since they had suggested it. We had them pass a law on the speed limit right there in front of the school.

 

Q: Why do we need a speeding law outside the school?

A: Some student could get hurt. Two cars could run into each other.

 

Pretty solid answers for young students. The legislating was equally interesting. The House ended up choosing 15 mph while the Senate chose 25 mph. They did not want people to take too long getting where they wanted to go. Second graders seemed to be in a bigger hurry than the first graders. Girls were some of the most adamant. 

The bill had to go to conference committee to see if the difference could be resolved. 3 House member and 3 Senators met together at the back of the room. They split the difference at 20 mph.

The House upheld the compromise, the Senate did not. Strong willed girls insisted on their viewpoint (25mph) as the right decision.

Back to conference. The Senators pushed the conference committee to adopt 25 mph. The Senate upheld the figure. The House was worried that they would end up with no speed limit at all. 25 mph was better than nothing. The House approved the conference committee report.

The President and I had been conferring. She had indicated a strong belief in a number different from those being voted on by the different chambers. After watching the difficulty of getting the agreement, she was afraid if she vetoed the bill there would be no agreement. She preferred some speed limit. She signed the bill.

The teachers with those students are doing a stunning job. The students had opinions and already had the tools to defend those opinions. They quickly grasped the essentials of the legislative process and explored the power of standing firm to press the policy issue. The President experienced the weight of seeing a dedicated small group insist on a viewpoint, pulling all other legislators to their position. She too, to avoid a stalemate, signed a bill she felt like was too risky. She correctly assessed that the smaller group might be able to win the day against her.

In the next hour we had the same exercise with the 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th graders. I chose to write about the younger kids because I expect a 5^th grader to know more about our government; and they do. Too bad we can’t expect the same of adults - our elected officials.

Students of all ages are fascinated by the government and the way it works. They engage easily and take the exercise seriously.

We should be teaching our children the fundamentals of our freedoms and the responsibilities of self government. In that way we help push the idea of freedom and liberty one more generation forward.