How to Explain the Protests to Young Children
By: Christina Vaughn, Nurse, Freelance Writer
Tags: Protest, Racism, Grandparenting, Values, Parenting

A white grandma fostering advocacy as early as possible

Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash

Bravery.

Advocacy.

Courage.

Love.

These are traits that protestors embody when they stand for a cause at any cost.

These are traits I taught my children to have as they were growing up through instructing them to fight for anyone that society treats as the “underdog” and especially through the example of my own advocacy for the many, many forgotten members of society that were my patients in my nursing career.

I want my grandchildren to understand these traits are also decisions and are crucial to living as loving human beings who serve their fellow man.

My four year old grandson watches the protests with me as they come on my facebook/utube pages. He wants to know why policemen are killing black people and hurting mothers and children and “other peoples” who are trying to help black people “who are getting killed and hurt in the world.” (his sweet words)

In my disgust and furiousness of the behaviour and overt racism exhibited by this nation’s police forces and the common everyday bigotry and racism of many white Americans, it is difficult for me to hold my tongue in answering him…and I decided I shouldn’t…to a point.

A small child’s view of the world and the security and foundation of that world are imperative perceptions that a child needs to formulate positive, but correct, concrete ideas about their being, their lives, and their purpose.

The truth must be given with a dose of hopefulness and with realistic, tangible examples for a child to independently understand and act accordingly within their own environments — i.e., social situations such as in childcare, the playground, and everywhere else as they encounter the differences of race, culture, gender and the like.

Therefore, any answers to the questions my grandson poses must be formulated carefully, but most importantly, truthfully, in a way that he can understand that the wrongs of this world must be changed through the actions of people — people who care.

Below is what I said. If you would like to discuss this pragmatically with young children, I invite you to consider my approach.

I continue to build on this foundation:

We do not hate other people and never based on their color, on where they come from. All humans are created differently and God says each person is fully loved and valuable. We are responsible for treating every person with love and respect.

There are many people who have been taught wrong and so they act wrong.

Killing people is wrong. Stealing is wrong. Lying to cover up what you do that is wrong, is wrong. Hurting people is wrong.

The policeman we are watching on the computer and on the phone have decided to do wrong because they believe wrong.

There are some policemen who do believe right. There are many people who believe right.

People who do bad things must be stopped and many times that means other people have to make a loud noise and get attention from the government who make many important decisions so they can stop bad things from happening to people.

Being mean, cruel, or hateful to people whose skin is a different color from yours is called racism. We are not racists.

Being mean to anyone who is different from you is called prejudice. We have a goal to erase prejudice…to get rid of it completely…because we do not want to be prejudiced and hurt other people in any way.