Talking Politics with Your College Kid

It’s Christmas break and the kids are home from college. They think they’re enlightened. You think they’re finally back under your watch.

Besides reinstating a curfew and doing copious amounts of laundry, maybe you can initiate a few conversations of political substance before the holiday season wraps up and they’re back to school.

The success of such a conversation depends on how you navigate their newfound independence and inject your wisdom. You may need Urban Dictionary to decode their new slang — but to be heard, you’ll need to use language they can understand.

Here are five words you should avoid altogether when talking to your millennial child about politics.

One: Investment
This word means different things for different folks. While some think of investment banking, millennials are most likely to think of investing in the future.

Regardless, investing tends to have a subliminally negative connotation. This may sound counterintuitive to your parental logic, but when you “invest” in something, you are divesting from somewhere else. And quite frankly, your kids will interpret that as taking away from “me, myself, and I.” College students want to live the experience to the fullest, put important goals in a broader context, and not have things done at the expense of the moment.

Two: Traditional
While your kids probably love family “traditions,” the word “traditional” brings to mind something else entirely. Avoid using it unless you want to come across as old, stodgy and boring.

There’s nothing wrong with believing things should be done like they were in the good old days, but it will be tough to break through to your millennial if you come across as anti-21st century.

Three: Corporate
Unless you’re in the “corporate” world, this word is toxic. How many complaints have you heard about out-of-touch, suit-and-tie, corporate America? That embodies the entirety of youth rebellion.

Common sense tells us that corporations are a part of our economic system, but a millennial’s emotional reaction is to hear nothing more than “routine-laden,” “anti-creativity” and “dog-eat-dog.”

(Disregard this point if your kid is a finance or business major. In that case, encourage those big business dreams, and let the corporate-speak flow!)

Four: Social
This e word “social” seems innocent enough: social media, social interaction, social skills. How could this be off-putting? Your kids are always talking with their friends or on social media.

However, in politics, social anything brings out those hot-button issues like gay marriage, abortion, and immigration, just to name a few. It also provides segues into social justice causes — i.e. redistribution of wealth. So, if you want to avoid touching off your kids’ alarm systems rigged by liberal indoctrination on campus, and avoid jumping into a full-on conversation about Marxism, avoid the word “social” at all costs.

Five: Capital
Unless you’re an investment banker in the corporate world, the word “capital” is unnecessarily scary.

“Capital” sounds like a superfluous term that high executives toss around when showing off in the boardroom. Meet your college kids on their level and use synonyms such as money or funds. You can stay more down-to-earth that way.

If you avoid these five words, you will be more likely to have a friendly and successful conversation about politics with your beloved millennial. After all, the real world is scary out there, and your kid will benefit from you penetrating their college-aged defenses and imparting some real wisdom. Whatever you can do to simplify the issues will be much appreciated, especially when Political Science 101 class rolls around.

This piece is part of a CampusZette series exploring the culture, oddities, and experiences of students on college campuses through their eyes.