“How do you know when you’re right? How do you know when you’re wrong? And when you know, what do you do?”
This question was asked by a child who participated Oct. 15 in Nickelodeon’s Nick News with Linda Ellerbee Special, “Kids Pick the President: The Candidates.” Children ages 10-12 were to ask the candidates for president some questions, and afterward vote for the person they thought should be the next president.
According to the New York Times Oct. 28 edition, the “Kids Vote” is a bellwether poll because in five of the last six presidential elections, kids have correctly picked the winner several weeks before the adults have voted. Also according to the Times, Nickelodeon, now in its 33rd year, is the No. 1 entertainment brand for kids, and Nickelodeon’s Nick News is now in its 21st year, the longest-running Emmy-winning kids’ news show in television history. It has built its reputation on the respectful and direct way it speaks to kids about important issues.
On Oct. 23, CNN’s Christiane Amanpour interviewed Ellerbee, who talked about the videotaped questions children from all over the country asked President Barack Obama. (Former Gov. Mitt Romney declined to answer questions, saying he was unable to fit it into his schedule.)
Among the questions asked were those regarding issues of the day as well as a few that were lighthearted. Ellerbee said one child asked a question that especially touched her about how do you ever know the difference between right and wrong.
In my view, some people believe “right” and “wrong” are absolutes, based on the teachings of their religious preferences, yet in thinking what is right and wrong as matter of belief, people can do horrible things in the name of religion.
Knowing, rather than believing what is right and wrong, comes as a feeling of awareness from within. Take time daily to turn inward and listen to your inner voice. Cultivate and learn to trust it, and you can use this awareness to help you live creatively and make correct choices in many areas of your life.
Joseph Campbell, noted mythologist and author of the “Hero’s Journey,” when interviewed in the acclaimed series “The Power of Myth” with Bill Moyers, said it best:
“The mission of life is to live your potentiality. How do you do it? My answer is, ‘Follow your bliss.’ There’s something inside you that knows when you’re in the center, that knows when you’re on the beam or off the beam. And if you get off the beam to earn money, you’ve lost your life. And if you stay in the center and don’t get any money, you still have your bliss.”
As for the results of Nickelodeon’s Nick News “Kids’ Vote” announced on-air Oct. 22, “According to the children of America, President Barack Obama will be around for another four years,” Ellerbee said.
Barbara Basia Koenig is an Encinitas artist