Two Rogue Valley families on opposite ends of the spectrum say developing a desire to vote should be part of growing up

While most of her peers are busy hanging with friends or surfing the Web this election season, 17-year-old Jory Nelaimischkies is rallying support for her favorite candidates, watching campaign speeches and counting the days until she can register to vote.

The Gold Hill girl, who recently spent an afternoon in triple-digit temperatures at a Medford rally supporting President Bush, said she can hardly remember a time when politics were not an important part of life.

"My whole family likes to watch the news together and then we talk about what’s going on," she said. "I really got into politics when I was about 9. In my elementary school, I was involved in the Clinton-Dole election in fourth grade."

While Jory’s interest in and understanding of politics may be more of an exception than the rule, children can — and should — be exposed to politics early in life, say experts and parents.

Helping kids understand politics is important to the basic survival of democracy, said Ashland City Council member Don Laws, a political science professor emeritus at Southern Oregon University.

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And while it might seem a tall order to discuss national politics with future voters more concerned about cartoons and Little League, parents can begin with preschool-age children and focus on issues they can relate to, Laws said.

"I define politics as group decision-making," he said. "Whether it’s at home, in a classroom, city, county or nation … when you make decisions on behalf of a group or as a group, you’re involved in politics.

"Maybe the most important is teaching them how to work together and make decisions within the family. Learn the process of decision making within the group. That’s vital."

Medford parent Kelvin Lemons agreed.

He took his 7-year-old daughter,Emily Tiger Lemons, to the Jackson County Exposition Center Aug. 12 to hear a speech by Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry. She even got lifted up for an unexpected handshake with the senator.

Lemons said he and his wife, Amy Tiger, try to encourage their children to be open-minded and consider candidates based on their values rather than on party lines or complicated issues.

Teaching children about democracy begins at home for his family. It includes voting on issues as basic as where to go for dinner or settling a "debate" among siblings, Lemons said.

"Teaching kids is not always about Republican or Democrat," he added. "It’s showing them that sometimes you have to meet in the middle.

"I think a lot of people are tuned out on politics because they feel it’s a hopeless situation. We try to talk about how it’s not important to vote by party but vote for people. We try to show our girls that we were born in this country where one person can make a difference. They pick up a lot you don’t realize."

Jory’s parents, Leslie and Sven Nelaimischkies, said they gave Jory and her 18-year-old sister Shehan a foundation for understanding the world around them by talking about and showing them the importance of living in a democratic society.

"We always took them to the polling place with us as little girls," said Leslie Nelaimischkies. "We’d take them in the polling booth and tell them how ‘you’ll get to do this when you’re big,’ and made it sound like this was the thing to do.

"In our family it’s always been important to vote — a way of life. I think if you learn at a young age that that’s what you do it’s easier to follow as you grow. It’s important, especially with the freedoms that we have in this nation, to make our children aware of how decisions can be resolved or revoked by their vote. It’s a gift. Not something to take lightly."

Laws said parents can encourage a positive attitude about politics and government officials by displaying one themselves. In addition, he said, if parents stay informed on important issues, kids will want to as well.

"Whether they watch the news on TV or use the search tools on the Internet… these are ways of gaining knowledge about the affairs of the world and if parents do it, kids will do it," Laws said.

"The whole attitude that we create and the skills that we demonstrate as parents has become the key to our children learning those."

For her generation’s sake, 17-year-old Jory hopes an interest in politics will come to be seen as the norm.

"There are a lot of people more interested in politics than I am," she said. "Then there are a lot of people who don’t really care and probably won’t ever vote."

"It kind of bothers me so I try to do something about it. Everyone can make a difference. I think everyone should realize how important it is to vote. I know I can’t wait."

Buffy Pollock is a free-lance writer living in Medford.E-mail her at buffypollock@juno.com.

How parents can get their children involved