Kids as Political Pawns

Another night in any town
You can hear the thunder of their cry
Ahead of their time
They wonder why
--Journey

Herbert long ago observed that as stakes rise associated with controlling the massive power of a democratic state, factions in competition for that power will become increasingly polarized. Moreover, those factions will become increasingly motivated to use all possible means to capture and retain state power.

This includes employing kids as political pawns.

In many ways, kids are ideal political instruments. Generally speaking, their reasoning powers are not fully developed, leaving them gullible to half baked arguments. They have not yet learned to fully control their feelings, making them susceptible to emotional capture. They are dependent on grown-ups for both tangible and psychic resources, making them open to adult influence in order to obtain what they need.

Perhaps the most desirable feature that kids possess for political operatives is the strong influence that kids, particularly perceived as innocent and victimized, can have on others. A crying child attracts more attention than a crying adult. While kids are prone to being emotionally captured themselves, they also possess tremendous capacity for emotionally capturing others.

Stated differently, kids can serve as excellent marketers for political agendas.

Thus, appeals for passing laws or government programs 'for the children' become increasingly common--as dubious as the underlying logic may be. More recently, those desperate to gain control of state power are trotting out kids as central participants in organized political protests--first on college campuses and now in high schools.

This should not be surprising. In fact, we should expect demand for children as political pawns to escalate as do the stakes associated with control of the state.

That does not mean, however, that individuals should sit idly while kids are being manipulated by political operatives.