Over the past few weeks, Marianne Vogel and her husband have been discussing the issues brought up by this year’s general election across the dinner table with their children.

Vogel and her family have been Sycamore residents for three years.

Three of Vogel’s five children – Tommy, 12; Elizabeth, 13; and Laura, 16, attend schools in Sycamore.

“Sixth grade is a good age to inform children because they start learning about politics in seventh grade,” Vogel said.

Vogel, who teaches a ninth-grade religious confirmation class at St. Catherine’s church in Genoa, said many of her students said they wanted Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry to win the election, but when asked why, they didn’t have an answer.

Kay Forest, NIU associate professor and sociology department chair, thinks the impact parents have on their children’s political beliefs are dependent on certain factors.

“It depends in part on the quality of the relationship with the parent or parents,” Forest said. “We tend to be more influenced by people whom we trust and admire.”

Vogel said she votes on the issues and what she needs to vote for at the time. She doesn’t consider herself a Democrat or a Republican.

Early on in the election, both of Vogel’s daughters supported Kerry because they were against the war.

“I tell my children to look at the candidates and if they are both bad, then you have to pick what you feel is the lesser of two evils,” she said.

She stressed to her children that they needed to research all the candidates’ stances, not just support someone over one issue.

“I had them look up liberal and conservative in the dictionary, so they would know what both ideologies were,” Vogel said.

Her daughters have also been encouraged in school to research the candidates and support who they felt was best for the job, not just who everyone else chooses, she said.