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Parenting Expert: Presidential Campaign Can Be Teaching Tool For Kids

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - The presidential campaign has been a little different from previous years.

From the commercials, to the debates, to news reports, everything from bullying, interrupting, crude comments, and lying has all come up.

So, what do you tell your kids? Should you even allow them to follow the race?

Parenting expert Dr. Deborah Gilboa believes we should get our kids interested in politics, but in a certain way.

"Absolutely talk about what's going on, but not every child should be watching these debates," she said.

She thinks middle and high school kids can watch the debates, but obviously not all elementary school kids are ready.

"I'm concerned about lies, bullying, interrupting, disrespectful behavior," she said.

Gilboa said you should ask your kids what they think of the behavior they see.

"If there's a silver lining to what's happening in the political discourse, it's this: Here's a chance to talk to our kids about bad behavior when we're not talking to them about their own bad behavior," she said.

What about Donald Trump bringing up sexual misconduct allegations against Bill Clinton? Or, the tape that's surfaced from 2005 with Trump describing grabbing women's private parts, which Trump dismisses as "locker room talk?"

Gilboa said even that can be a teaching moment for some young people.

"Even if I don't believe he did the stuff he talked about, there are a couple of important issues - talking about consent, talking about power and how people use and misuse it," she said.

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