Des Moines, IA — We’ve all heard the negative political ads. Especially the US Senate race between Joni Ernst and Bruce Braley. But what kind of an impact are those ads having on our children?
WHO went to Greenwood Elementary School in Des Moines. We didn’t show the kids any advertisements, but asked them what they knew about Joni Ernst based on ads they’ve already seen on TV.
“She’s taking away medicine. And that’s all I really know,” says 9-year old Judith Bruggerman.
Nine-year old Max Hill adds, “Like that she’s trying to shut down schools I’m pretty sure that’s what they’re saying because I can’t really understand it…I don’t really like her.”
As for what they know about Bruce Braley, 10-year-old Jordan Davis Williams says, “He missed 72 percent of meetings for veterans for fundraisers and he wants to raise up taxes and charge more on medicare and also he wants to cut the department of education also.”
Nine-year old Ava Currie adds, “He’s trying to raise higher taxes for buying cars and that’s kind of all I remember…I’m kind of not voting for him so I just kind of think he’s a bad person.”
And 9-year-old Salvador Findley says “He’s bad and I don’t hear much good stuff about him. ”
The kids say, they learn in school that it’s not nice to say bad things about other people. A lesson they say the candidates should learn.
“Even if you’re running against people it doesn’t mean you have to be mean to them,” says 10-year-old Henry Claypool.
“Sometimes like I have friends that like talk behind like my back like when they say bad stuff that really isn’t true like some ads do that,” says Max Hill, 9.
Nine-year-old Judith Bruggeman adds, “It’s kind of mean so I don’t like to hear mean stuff about people.”
