Linda Ellerbee: The Kids Are All Right

What do you find is the most important political issue to kids?
The environment, without question. I've been listening to kids as young as kindergarten—it's like they were saying it all along, and now we're finally listening. For 18 years they've been saying that we're fouling our nest and leaving it for them. And that's not far from true, there's a great deal of truth to that. I'm not sure why kids have always seemed so much more interested in the environment than grown-ups, but I know it to be so.

Is it true that kids get their political views from their parents.
They get some from their parents, of course, but sometimes they're only agreeing with one of their parents. Sometimes you're just seeing a kid beginning to think for herself or himself.

As a veteran of network news, how did you get involved with Nickelodeon?
Truthfully, starting Nick News was an accident. It started for us with the first Gulf War, and Geraldine Laybourne, the head of Nick, called me and said, 'I know you have a production company and I like your work. It's the first time the U.S. has gone to war since we've had 24-hour news, and I'm very afraid kids are getting bits and pieces through that most deadly rumor system, the schoolyard rumor. But I don't think they understand and they're scared. Could you put together a show that tries to explain the war for kids and tries to lower their anxiety?' I thought about it and basically I just took the attitude that common sense would do. Kids aren't dumber than us, they're just shorter and less experienced. So it wasn't dumbing it down, it was giving them a voice without telling them what to think—but we could encourage them to think.

Kids have a right to know what's going on in their world. I don't believe in 'ignorance is bliss,' nor do I believe that's even possible. When Sept. 11 happened, we were on the phone with 400 kids over the next 48 hours, and we couldn't find a single kid over 6 who had not seen those images of a plane flying into the building. If you think a 10-year-old kid has no idea, you're wrong.

What is the question you most often get from kids about the electoral process?
Without question: 'Why can't we vote in the real election?' I've never really been sure of a great answer. I know a lot of fifth graders that know more than people who are over 15. I know some fifth graders who know more than people who are running. There are obvious reasons why we don't let fifth graders vote, but citizenship doesn't start when you're 18, it starts when you're born. I have been so energized by the enthusiasm of kids as I travel around the country. I was in Massachusetts this weekend, sitting outside this coffee shop with a group of burnouts that were hanging around. They were guys, ages 19, 20, 21, 22 or so, and I said, 'Who are you going to vote for?' And not a one of them planned to vote. I wanted to introduce them to a lot of fifth and sixth graders I know.

The media and—of course—the candidates themselves are calling this the most important election of our lifetimes. Do you think kids have a sense of that, or even believe that?
Absolutely they do, partly because for most of the kids who are watching Nick News, they have no memory of a president other than George W. Bush. This time there is no president running, it's a brand new game. There's a woman in the race, there's a black man in the race, the economy is falling apart, and we're at war. I find going around the country that more kids are more involved than ever before. Somebody smarter than me is going to have to figure out why.

© 2008