Those signs around town, what do they say?
“It’s election season,” Mom said. “This fall, we get to vote for our mayor, school board members, and even our president!”
So begins the political education of kids Kayden and Emma, the main characters of “Voting With Mommy,” a children’s book written by Eastvale City Councilmember Jocelyn Yow and illustrated by Bonnie Lemaire.
The mother of a 4-year-old named Kayden, Yow, 29, hopes that her book released last month inspires families to talk with their children about civics in hopes they’ll vote as grown-ups.
“I would love for families, for parents to introduce the concept of voting, to talk about voting and what’s happening around them at home, starting at a young age,” Yow said.
Research shows the path to the ballot box starts at home.
Children whose mothers voted in the previous presidential election were 20.3% more likely to vote in their first election, according to research published by the Sandra Day O’Connor Institute for American Democracy.
“Parents have a tremendous influence on the interest people have in politics, the values they bring to politics, and the habits they have with regard to citizenship,” Stanford University political science professor Bruce E. Cain was quoted as saying in a 2016 New York Times article about the role parents play in whether their kids vote.
Statewide, voters ages 18 to 34 account for about a third of California’s adult population, but just 21% of likely voters, the Public Policy Institute of California reported this summer. By comparison, California voters 55 and older make up 35% of the state’s adult population but 50% of likely voters.
A Norco College political science professor and the first woman of color to be elected to the Eastvale City Council — she was also the youngest woman of color to become a city’s mayor in California history — Yow said that while growing up she, “was taught that you never talk about politics at the dining table.”
That changed her freshman year in college, when she went to a friend’s house for dinner.
“My friend’s parents, they would ask me for my opinion about some political issues that were happening at that time,” Yow said.
“Because of that dinner and that experience, it really got me thinking and looking at things from a different perspective and how politics affects all of us, whether we like it or not.”
The idea for writing the book stems from taking her son to her polling place, Yow said.
“He’s like ‘What is that? What is that?’” she said. “If you’re ever around a toddler, they’re very curious. They will ask you, ‘What is this, what is this, what is this?’ … So I would have to explain everything to him and I’m like ‘Let me just start writing all these down.’”
It took four years for Yow to write the book, which is her first.
“It’s one thing to have an idea and then it’s another thing to put it in writing, and I would always get stuck,” she said.
Yow tried to think of “things that little kids would care about.”
“They care a lot about parks and playgrounds,” she said. “Then they don’t necessarily understand the concept of roads or streets or the city budget or public safety just yet. But kids, you don’t mess with their playgrounds and parks.”
As a professor, Yow said the Generation Z students — those born between 1997 and 2012 — she interacts with are “very involved” in politics.
“They have opinions. They are well aware of what’s going on.”
Yow said she’s concerned about where young people are getting their information from.
“I would rather be me talking to my kid about politics and what’s happening than him getting his information from social media or whatnot in a few years,” she said.
“And so it’s important … that we start this conversation at home, and that we guide them in showing them how to find how to source news. I think that’s something that we can start at home by talking about news (and) what’s happening, where can you find accurate information instead of relying on social media.”
Yow will sign copies of her book Saturday, Sept. 21, from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the Harada Neighborhood Center, 13099 65th St., Eastvale. She’ll do the same Saturday, Sept. 28, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Corona Public Library, 650 S. Main St.
