Kids get political?

This story came out a couple of days ago, but, with the busy holiday season, this is the first time I've been able to write about it. I totally love this!

Nickelodeon TV, the children's' network, is getting ready to cover its first presidential inauguration. Young reporters Lily Collins, rocker Phil Collins' daughter, and J.J. (Nick would not release his last name) will be in Washington on Jan. 20 to show Barack Obama's inauguration from a pint-sized perspective. Throughout the presidential campaign, Nickelodeon found that interest among its young viewers matched that of the adults. Nick's own online "election" had 2.2 million children voting, with kids supporting Obama over John McCain (51 percent to 49 percent) in a closer margin than the real election. The coverage will show up during commercial breaks and, most prominently, during the periods between regular shows in prime-time. Nick will offer a retrospective of past presidents taking the oath of office and interviews with young people about Obama's election and his inaugural address. Nick won't cover the speech live, but will take excerpts shortly after it is done from coverage on a news network and package it for its viewers. Nick reporters covered the primary this year for the first time (another online poll found kids selecting Obama and McCain as the nominees before Super Tuesday) and went to the Democratic and Republican party conventions. Republicans didn't allow Nick TV reporters on their convention floor; the Democrats did. (Source)

Boy, Nickelodeon sure has changed since I was watching it. I mean, most of the break ins then involved someone getting slimed, and their idea of political was who won Double Dare! Not that I'm bagging on the Nick of old, I spent numerous hours watching Clarissa Explains It All, Hey Dude!, You Can't Do That On Television, Nick Rocks (they once sent me a record of the La Bamba soundtrack!) and that one show that had the mannequin that turned into a human when he had his hat on and there was a puppet mouse and a puppet named Sam running security. Does anyone know the name of this show? I used to watch it before I went to kidergarten every morning, so my recollection of it is rather hazy. Anyway, Nickelodeon has definitely evolved and I think its evolved for the better. I love the idea of getting kids involved with what's going on in the country. I mean, its their country too, shouldn't they know what's happening in it?