On Friday, President Biden made some news in Connecticut when he visited. When reporters asked him if he supports term limits for Supreme Court justices, he replied "No". This was in response to a commission Biden established. The visit did however highlight how children are being drawn into culture wars that are being waged between adults.
Biden made his first stop in Connecticut at the Capitol Child Development Center in Hartford. There he promoted the Child Care provisions of his Build back Better proposal. He also visited the playground.
Biden was enjoying a casual encounter with the preschoolers when 50 Trump supporters "chanted F--- Joe Biden." In a White House pool report, Noah Robertson from The Christian Science Monitor stated that "He's not our President." The pool reporters could still hear protesters shouting from the curb outside. Expletives. He added, "More yelling" in a follow up report. He also noted that there were "Ban Title 42 chants," which "could indicate it wasn't just a Trump-supporting crowd."
Scott Detrow, audio pool reporter at NPR News, also commented on the audible "F--- Joe Biden” chants. Fox News reports that Zolan Kanno, The New York Times' Zolan Youngs also noted this.
Also, children have been involved in adult fights over school diversity programs or mask requirements. CNN reported on a disturbing incident in Beverley Hills, California earlier this month. Anti-mask protesters accused parents rape and child abuse as they walked their children from elementary school.
"More than ever, politics is defined in comparatively small groups comparatively loud individuals dominating discourse, when it is uncertain whether they speak for themselves or anyone else," Christopher Hooks reports at Texas Monthly. Hooks covers the ugly confrontations at school board meetings this fall and summer, often involving "at best, a dozen angry protesters." Some of these people are not parents of children attending public schools.
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Hooks tells the story about a sophomore at Austin's Westlake High School who was shouted down by angry adults and brought to tears. Hooks also recounts how a Dallas high school student was called a "Sheep!" Hooks was mocked by adults for advocating the wearing of masks.
Hooks writes that "the most bitter and depressing political conflicts invariably involve the local politics," but local fights have become more nationalized and ugly. "Probably, the kids are fine. They are usually. They are ..." parents.
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