The Impeachment Spectacle: What To Tell the Children

By Bruce Shaw

Across the nation, children have returned to school from their break while the U.S. Senate prepares to try an impeached president of the United States.

I was one of a handful of people who decided to watch the impeachment hearings instead of completing my holiday shopping. When I turned on the TV on the day of the congressional vote, ABC anchorman Peter Jennings was interviewing a pundit. "How old are your children?" Mr. Jennings asked. "And what are you going to tell them about all this?"

This embarrassing question has harried parents and educators since the Kenneth W. Starr investigation exposed President Clinton's seamy White House affair a year ago. The pundit, however, didn't hesitate in his answer. While he certainly regretted the present situation, it created a wonderful opportunity to teach his children about the Constitution, to explain the rule of law, to explicate the intricacies...