An interesting study on kids of Democrats versus Republicans was recently released by CNN. I know, it’s CNN. But still, the results are interesting to say the least.

Are you ready for this? According to the latest, “Democrat-supporting kids drove polarization in a new study for CNN, and the children were more likely to say they wouldn’t be friends with someone who supports Trump. Kids in red states, on the other hand, were more likely to repeat misinformation.”

The findings are the result of more than 40 hours of interviews commissioned by CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 to talk politics with 80 elementary schoolers in Arizona, a 2024 battleground state; New Jersey, a blue state; and Texas, a red state.”-CNN

Check it out:

NEW: CNN finds that Democrat-leaning children are *9 times* more likely to have extreme political opinions than Republican-leaning children.

Gee, I wonder why.

Democrat Child 1: Donald Trump, he did bad things, he's like H*tler.

Democrat Child 2: He only wanted to be president… pic.twitter.com/aH2qVXUYDX

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) September 26, 2024

Among some of the main themes CNN chose to highlight: He did bad things. He’s like Hitler. And, let’s not forget: January 6th. Wait for it…here’s one more: Donald Trump only wanted to be president so he could control people.

These kids are just parroting what their woke teachers and brainwashed parents feed them.

Instead of forming their own thoughts, they’re being turned into little soldiers for a narrative they don’t even understand.

This is how weak minds are made

— John (@johnEiid) September 26, 2024

For this project, Asheley Landrum, an associate professor, child development expert and media psychologist at Arizona State University, worked with Stanford University political science professor Shanto Iyengar, who has already studied polarization in American teens. Landrum asked the elementary schoolers a series of questions, using photographs and visual prompts, to understand how the children feel about the political system.

The questions about the presidential candidates included prompts asking which one would keep them safer, which is more honest and which is more likely to do bad things.”-CNN

Let’s talk about ASU’s Asheley Landrum in one tweet:

We found that participants who tend to vote for Democrats—on average—consume less biased and more reliable media than those who tend to vote for Republicans. pic.twitter.com/Y1w5Kv8exI

— Asheley R. Landrum (@LandrumAR) October 11, 2023

Because CNN is not biased AT ALL. Let’s also talk about Shanto Iyengar:

Shanto Iyengar is a Professor of Political Science and Director of the Political Communication Laboratory. Iyengar’s areas of expertise include the role of mass media in democratic societies, public opinion, and political psychology.”-Stanford University

Garbage in, garbage out.

These interviews were conducted over a series of months. Yes, MONTHS. CNN followed Ashley Landrum around for months to film these interviews.

In May, when the race was between Biden and Trump, kids were asked to select an emoji that corresponded with their feelings about a candidate. Only a quarter of the Trump-leaning kids selected an emoji signifying that Biden makes them feel nervous or worried, but more than half of the Biden-leaning kids selected that emoji when asked about Trump

In both May and September, Landrum showed kids pictures of two houses, one with a Trump sign and one with a Biden or Harris sign, and asked if they or their parents would be comfortable visiting. Most, Landrum notes, were open to visiting the house associated with either political party. But she adds that a higher percentage of Democrat-leaning kids – a third of them in September – were unwilling to visit the homes of children whose families support Trump. Few of the Trump-leaning kids said they would be unwilling to visit a Democrat-backing house.”-CNN

Interesting points to note: more kids in Democrat households have anxiety in general. More kids from Democrat-leaning households are less likely to visit a friend (or be friends with) a kid from a Republican-leaning family. Don’t go into the house with the Trump flag…you may have a food fight! (A kid did say this and I’m here to say if I were a kid, I would much rather have a food fight than deal with an up-tight set of Race2Dinner parents who have the perpetual sticks up their asses.)

So, in short, the Democrat-leaning parents are the more controlling and judgmental ones. CNN said it themselves, not us.

It all comes down to two factors here with these kids and no, I am not talking about how Taylor Swift casts her ballot this November. The bias emanating from the mouths of young babes is directly attributed to the parents and, let’s not forget, the teachers they spend at least 6 hours a day with. An elementary-aged child is typically not allowed at a friend’s home because the parent makes a decision to not allow it. I admit, there was a time I did not want my son at a friend’s house but it wasn’t because of their family’s political leanings and it was out of concern for his safety. I also remember my 5th grade son in 2016 coming home to tell us about how his teacher flat-out lost her ever-loving mind the day after Election Day and, in a fit of tears, told the whole class of kids that we were “headed for a nuclear war”. How is this okay? (God’s honest truth and yes, this lunatic is still employed.)

My question is this: WHY THE HELL would a school principal let CNN into a building to “talk politics” with a child? Isn’t this fuel for bias and polarization? And, in all seriousness, aren’t reading and math scores low enough in The United States? I think there are more important things for young brains to focus on in elementary education. Let’s stick to the basics of reading and math in elementary schools and let these kids be kids, make their own friends and form their own opinions before having nuanced political conversations.

Featured image, cropped, Adobe Stock standard license.