BRINGING PRETEENS INTO THE POLITICAL FOLD
In his new book, The Art of the Possible, Star columnist Edward Keenan aims to help children see they already have a part in running society
Despite being surrounded by talk about the upcoming federal election, most preteens will assume politics is just for adults. Don’t believe it, says Edward Keenan, author of The Art of the Possible:
An Everyday Guide to Politics (Owlkids Books, $18). In his new book, Keenan, a father of three, uses his years of political writing experience to help kids understand that we all have a hand in the society we live in, long before our first visit to the ballot box.
In your introduction you tell readers to brace themselves, because no matter what they think about politics or their interest level, they are actually politicians. How so?
That age range of 10 to 14 is a time when some kids are starting to become aware and interested in politics. Especially during an election campaign. Some kids start to see the signs, they hear people talking about it. I know when I was in Grade 5, I started viewing it as a team sport, counting the lawn signs and getting my parents to let me watch the debate. I think for a lot of other kids, they’re not particularly interested in it or don’t know why they’d want to be interested yet. So when I started the book by saying “you are a politician,” I was trying to address both groups, those who might find that exciting news and those who might find it distressing or ridiculous. The point I was trying to make is that whether or not you are interested and whether or not you think you want to be interested, you’re already sort of involved. You’re part of a system and the actions you take, or the ones you don’t take, and your level of interest directly affects how those decisions get made.
The book’s title is very optimistic for a topic often regarded with cynicism. Why did you choose The Art of the Possible?
I think there’s a period in our lives when most of us feel alienated from a lot of things, especially during the teenage years — you’re disillusioned with your parents, with the structures of authority, your school system. You’re starting to understand that the world has a lot more faults than maybe you were led to believe or that things are a lot muddier, not just black and white. I think a lot of us carry that alienation, with the political system in particular, with good reason, into adulthood. But I think that alienation and apathy together allow the system to become more corrupt because there are fewer people paying close attention and fewer people who believe in the possibility of change and there are fewer people working in the system with good motives.
Voting is part of political engagement, but how can kids become more active citizens now?
I cover municipal politics a lot. And at that level, where politics really touch people’s lives, you can see how local neighbourhood groups, parents’ groups, citizen groups and children can influence the process as it is taking place. And most of that influence doesn’t take place during an election campaign, most of it doesn’t take place at the ballot box. That is absolutely an important part of the political process, a really important part. But I think a lot of the parents and journalists I’ve been talking to about this book are fixated on, “how do we get 25-year-olds to vote?” This isn’t a book aimed at getting 25-year-olds to vote. I hope after reading it people will understand why voting is important, but my experience, my observation of the world, is that most of what we call politics and decision making takes place in between elections.
You give a great example of this in your case study of Jane Jacobs.
One particular anecdote that resonates in Toronto, especially around city hall, is Jane Jacobs. She never ran for office, never really aligned herself with a political party, but as a writer and as an activist she reshaped how New York City and Toronto were built. She changed the way many city planners and urban officials across North America, and even the world, think about how cities are built. That was political action she was taking, but it wasn’t focused on a vote. It was focused on how we live our everyday lives.
What do you hope kids and parents take away from this book?
That you don’t have to be a party operative or a candidate to have influence on how things go. You don’t even need to become a full-time politician or full-time activist, but the system works best for each of us individually, and for all of us collectively, if we are paying attention and participating when it’s appropriate to participate, when we feel strongly about something or when we are asked our opinions about something. And to let people know, too, if you think something in the world is wrong or if you think that something could be better, you can make it better. You won’t be 100 per cent successful — it’s often about compromise, that’s part of the process — but politics is not something separate from you. It’s something that you are involved in.