How to Talk to Children + Youth About Injustice

There's a whole lot of pain and injustice and hurt in the world, and while many caregivers may be doing their best to shield their kids and teenagers from all that is happening, it's nearly impossible to do, especially if they are older. There is news everywhere you turn, things feel so close that conversations are happening all around us, and kids and young people are sponges, so they will soak up any little thing that they might hear, and will likely have questions about it. 

Whether the kids in your life are itty bitty or teenagers or somewhere in between, and whether they are in your family or in your children's or youth ministry, if they feel comfortable enough to bring their questions, their concerns, or their fears to you, it's important that you don't let your own questions, concerns, or fears leave you feeling like you need to deflect or distract from that conversation. While it's not possible and not helpful to be compeletely informed about everything all the time, here are some resources that can help you feel prepared to enter in to some of those hard conversations, and some books and resources that can lay the groundwork with kids so that they know they can talk to you. Some of them are specific, and some of them are general. I've looked closely at them, and believe them to be from reliable, trustworthy sources that are consistent with Anglican beliefs (using the Marks of Mission as a guide for that). 

As you read through these, and hopefully other resources that you might find elsewhere on the internet, remember that it's important to not let just one voice shape your understanding. Even the best, most trustworthy source can only speak from their own experience of research, carrying all of the bias and limitations that comes with that. That doesn't mean that you need to read everything that is out there, but seeking a variety of voices bringing a variety of experiences and perspectives is worthwhile. 

Here are a few online and print resources and educators:

Tips for Talking with Children About Racism and Social Justice - Save the Children - This is a super practical list of tips for those conversations. 

Britt Hawthorne is an anti-racism educator, whose book, Raising Anti-Racist Children: A Practical Parenting Guide, is  very easy to read and invites meaningful refleciton and invitation to put thigns into practice. She also shares lots of practical and educational content on Facebook and Instagram,  including things like this post, which is specific to current events in the United States, but is based on principles that apply to many, many other situations: 

How to Help Students Think About Justice from Greater Good Magazine - This article is based on research in school settings, so it's not an immediately ready to use practical guide for a family, but the information in it can be translated and is very thorough, looking at how we support young people to grow into informed and engaged citizens who take injustice seriously. 

Talking to Kids About Systemic Injustice - Better Together Family Therapy - Among other things, this has a helpful age based breakdown on how to talk about systemic injustice. 

Doing Advocacy Work with Children and Youth - Youth and Family Ministry, Diocese of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island - This is a recording of a zoom call from 2024 in our Inspired Faith Series, about how to engage children and youth in your ministries with advocacy work. It's not enitrely on topic for this, but felt worth inlcuding in case it's at all helpful!

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Here are some stories that can be part of laying the groundwork for these conversations, or that can serve as a balm or as encouragement for children and youth who might be struggling:

I Am Human: A Book of Empathy by Susan Verde - This is a simple picture book that invites children to think about what it is to be human, and what empathy is. Using empathy as a framework for how we think and talk about injustice can help us and kids centre the people who are impacted by injustice. With older kids, you can move from there into conversations about the systems and structures that cause injustice, but for little littles, focusing on empathy is a good place to start. 

Ruby Finds a Worry by Tom Percival - A picture book about a girl who finds a worry, and it keeps growing until she learns what to do with it. Helping kids build language and understanding of their emotional experiences is invaluable, and this book in particular helps kids see that sharing what they are feeling is an important way of processing those feelings.

Maybe God is Like That by Jennifer Grant - Reflections of God are all around us, and this lovely book is filled with wonder of what God might be like and where we might see God. Looking for God in the world in the midst of pain and injustice and hurt can be grounding and can help kids who are struggling find hope.

Holy Trouble Makers and Unconventional Saints by Daneen Akers - This is a longer book, so better for kids who are a bit older, full of examples of people who say injustice and acted with love to challenge the system and structures that cause harm to others. 

(I could list just a million books, so will stop at those few, but know that if you visit your local library, you are likely to find a librarian who can point you in the direction of books like these, and you might just find the perfect one for you and the children in your life.)