Cary students show how to vote without vitriol

We’re not sure of her political preference, but if Cary Elementary third grade teacher Chelsea Cadman is agreeable, she wouldn’t be a bad choice for prime minister, if the United States had one.

We like her style.

It was Cadman who came up with the idea to hold a school-wide election for president in her school, which the kids did Monday. They had registration cards, homemade voting booths, iPads to record the votes, and could even paste on an “I Voted” sticker when done. Before they voted, however, they saw a video about manners and voting, one lesson of which was that you don’t have to be enemies with those who support another candidate.

“We don’t want to offend, but we also want the kids to realize that by saying certain things to certain people, you can offend them,” Cadman said. “So why not teach them at a young age to be respectful of the rules of voting and the etiquette especially?”

Hmmmm ... maybe not prime minister. President.

Said third grader Lee Snider, 8: “In some countries the important people just choose the leader instead of everybody getting the chance to vote. It’s bad for that to happen, because that leader might be a bad leader.”

Right you are, although democracy’s no guarantee of a good leader. But if Cary Elementary is training students this young to appreciate differences and not resent them, the election of, say, 2026 might be a grand improvement.

This story was originally published November 8, 2016 at 6:51 PM with the headline "Cary students show how to vote without vitriol."