f the chaotic Christmas shopping season proves anything, it's that no one is better at manipulating adults than their own children.
Today, a group of activists hopes that Boston schoolchildren will use that knack, usually employed at the toy store or the supermarket candy aisle, to pressure their parents to take them to the polls.
Kids Voting USA, an Arizona-based civic education program, is giving Boston children a chance to cast their own ballots in a voting booth alongside their parents in today's general election - an attempt to sell youngsters on the process and get them to drag their parents along.
''This program teaches children, early on, that voting is part of living in a democracy and of being an American,'' said Betsy Webb, Massachusetts state coordinator for Kids Voting. ''It also sort of de-mystifies the whole election process by allowing kids to start practicing, so that when they are old enough to vote, they understand how it's done.''
When the polls open this morning, students will have the chance to cast their own ballots in the presidential election and the Senate race, and weigh in on four of eight state ballot questions.
Kids Voting is setting up special booths at 44 polling locations. Younger children will get a chance to cast their ballots during the school day, while older children are encouraged to take their parents to the polls after school or vote online (www.bostonyouthzone.com).
At each polling station, after signing in, students will get paper ballots to take into private election booths, creating a voting experience that organizers hope is as close as possible to the real thing.
''This is something that kids generally have to wait to experience until they are 18, but when you can get them excited about voting now, it carries over later in life,'' said Philip Matthews, a retired East Boston principal and director of Kids Voting Boston.
Kids Voting USA, which has now established programs in 40 states, was founded by two Arizona businessmen who took a trip to Costa Rica and were impressed by the high levels of political participation in that country, where entire families go to the polls together and voting is promoted aggressively in public schools.
Since the beginning of the academic year, teachers in Boston public schools have integrated civics lessons into their curriculums. In classes from kindergarten through high school, students have learned about the electoral process, the key candidates and the issues in this year's election.
Kid Voting's curriculum stresses the connection between election-day turnout and political power, as well as the rights and responsibilities associated with voting. But the lessons can have an impact on their parents as well.
In other communities where Kids Voting has launched its efforts, turnout among adults has jumped between 5 and 10 percent, said Webb, who is expecting between 10,000 and 20,000 Boston children to vote.
Organizers had hoped to set up shop at each of Boston's 177 voting precincts, but fell short of volunteers and had to scale back their efforts.
Even if younger children don't necessarily understand the gears and levers of the political system when they head to the polls today, Webb says it teaches them the importance of making informed decisions and participating in civic activities.
