--- title: Tips on How to Talk to Your Kids About Ferguson description: Experts suggest that it's important to get the conversation going canonical: https://time.com/3612265/tips-on-how-to-talk-to-your-kids-about-ferguson/ author: Carey Wallace article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-12-02T14:13:32.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:42:19.538Z og:title: Tips on How to Talk to Your Kids About Ferguson og:description: Experts suggest that it's important to get the conversation going og:url: https://time.com/3612265/tips-on-how-to-talk-to-your-kids-about-ferguson/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1b0cfda8d5a97f06/69876ac55f570f85e4b13c6a/ferguson-protest-michael-brown-08.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: A Ferguson firefighter surveys rubble at a strip mall that was set on fire when rioting erupted following the grand jury announcement in the Michael Brown case on Nov. 25, 2014 in Ferguson, Mo. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Tips on How to Talk to Your Kids About Ferguson twitter:description: Experts suggest that it's important to get the conversation going twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1b0cfda8d5a97f06/69876ac55f570f85e4b13c6a/ferguson-protest-michael-brown-08.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Tips on How to Talk to Your Kids About Ferguson > Sponsored content. 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Worth Your Time is TIME's culture recommendation newsletter, edited by culture editor Eliza Berman. Each week it surfaces the books, shows, films and ideas TIME's editors think are worth your attention, and explains why. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Does TIME have a culture newsletter? Yes. Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published weekly. #### Who writes TIME's culture recommendations? Culture editor Eliza Berman writes Worth Your Time, drawing on TIME's critics and culture desk. #### Is Worth Your Time free? Yes. It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-worth-2026q3/newsletters?i=89e75bfd-b73f-49b7-a3d9-5004d74639f1&cr=time-nl-worth-2026q3-v1) ## Video: 'Am I next?' Ferguson's Protests Through the Eyes of a Teenager [Watch (HLS stream): 'Am I next?' Ferguson's Protests Through the Eyes of a Teenager](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/fStAJZ1s.m3u8) (5:27)  _Published 2014-08-16. TIME followed a teenager as residents of Ferguson, Mo. turned out to protest peacefully on Aug. 16_  by [Carey Wallace](https://time.com/author/carey-wallace/)  ## Carey Wallace Dec 2, 2014 2:13 PM UTC  A Ferguson firefighter surveys rubble at a strip mall that was set on fire when rioting erupted following the grand jury announcement in the Michael Brown case on Nov. 25, 2014 in Ferguson, Mo. A Ferguson firefighter surveys rubble at a strip mall that was set on fire when rioting erupted following the grand jury announcement in the Michael Brown case on Nov. 25, 2014 in Ferguson, Mo. Scott Olson—Getty Images  by [Carey Wallace](https://time.com/author/carey-wallace/)  ## Carey Wallace Dec 2, 2014 2:13 PM UTC We’d all love for our kids to be able to get along with all kinds of people. And school curricula are full of chatter about how to celebrate our diversity. But the fact is, people from different backgrounds don’t always see eye to eye. And sometimes those tensions can raise deep questions for kids, like the nationwide protests that have erupted over the events in Ferguson, Missouri. These stories may be especially disturbing for kids when they involve children near their age, like Michael Brown or Trayvon Martin. Race is such a tough topic that it can be tempting to avoid, especially for white families, who are three times less likely to discuss race than families of color, [according to a recent study by the _Journal of Marriage and Family_](http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2006.00339.x-i1/abstract). But race is an important subject for every family to address. [Research suggests](http://psycnet.apa.org/psycinfo/1998-04296-001) that kids who talk openly about race in their families are less prejudiced and that [kids who make friends from different backgrounds](http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-9507.2005.00289.x/abstract) have better social skills. So how can we talk with our kids, not just about diversity, but about the tensions our differences can create? **Elementary School**: Young children may be frightened by the images they see on the news, Cynthia Rogers, an instructor in child psychology at Washington University in St. Louis has observed. It’s important to let them share these feelings, and also to assure them that they are safe. But even at a very young age, studies have shown, [kids already notice the differences between themselves and others](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20708745). So, experts like Rodolfo Mendoza-Denton, professor of psychology at Berkley, [recommend that parents talk about difference](http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/should%5Fwe%5Ftalk%5Fto%5Fyoung%5Fchildren%5Fabout%5Frace). The central message to communicate: it’s okay to be different. In fact, our differences are something to explore and celebrate. **Middle School:** Just as with anything else, kids learn best about race by actual experience, not lectures. As kids form friendships in middle school, encourage them to connect with kids from different backgrounds. Don’t be afraid to talk about those differences with your kids. And be open to the fact that your family isn’t “normal” to everyone else. In fact, when we connect with families from different backgrounds, we may learn just as much about how different we seem to them. **High School:** At this age, students will be aware of big events like Ferguson, and have their own opinions, Marcia Chatelain, a Georgetown University professor with a focus on African-American history [has noted](http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/talk-students-ferguson/). So parents can encourage high school students to share those thoughts and feelings. And also encourage them to learn about the history of race and civil rights, so that their understanding can grow as they absorb new perspectives. The bottom line on talking about race with kids: just talk. We don’t have to have all the right answers for our kids to grow up with less prejudice. We just have to start the conversation. And if you want to go a bit deeper on how to use the events in Ferguson as a springboard for more discussion, a bunch of academics have put together some reading lists on Twitter under the hashtag #fergusoncurriculum ## Transcript [ NOISE ]. [ MUSIC ] This where we going out here man, it's crazy out here though. Man he shouldn't. He shouldn't have, he didn't deserve to die. I mean he didn't deserve that many shots though. Like you can shoot something in their leg to stop them from running. You can somebody in they leg to stop them from running but you ain't gotta shoot then down bro. Why you gotta shoot him in the head? He ain't even got no gun on him. That's crazy. I feel like they should keep protesting till it's over with. And if it ain't, and if he don't get justice then, that's just what's gonna happen man, we gonna be out here every day until something happen. Come on now let's keep walking. I saw Trayvon Martin, I saw George Zimmer get away with it. Now, now, now its another case now if these police get away with it now I'm telling you man this aint Florida this is St. Louis Missouri. Come on brother. [ MUSIC ] Quit talking bout my R bird. He was so young man. Man, he was gonna go to college like, what if that was me man. If 14 I'm just now going to school and stuff. Like, what if that was me gonna go to college. Like and then the only person in my family, and then I die right before the day the school starts [ MUSIC ] What is that all about, what's that? He was 18, he was too young to die.. What is that though? I dunno what that is, that's them. Lemme ask you something, if it don't make a point then why do it? They put this on here, i'm trying to scrape it off so I can write on it. But that's what i'm saying, why put it on that? When you can go get a piece of paper and put it on that. Mike Mike made a statement in time, you know what i'm saying? And we've got to keep his memory alive by not defacing property. And this is what they want y'all to do. This is defacing property. Look at this, this don't een say nothing no more. When the rain comes it can be washed away. But this right here, will never be washed away. All of these people out here will never be washed away. But I bet if you get out there in the middle of the street they gonna see you because your age. Its all about its just like fighting with your with your mind fight with a pen or a paper or a marker you know what I'm saying make it bigger. In every way, so they could see it. All right. [ MUSIC ] No peace. No peace. Don't shoot. Hands up >> Don't shoot . >> Hands up >> Don't shoot . >> Hands up Don't shoot. Hands. Don't shoot, hands up. Don't shoot, hands. Don't shoot, hands up. This is how we all gotta unite bird, all of us african american. To the night, this what it lead us to me. Everybody holding hands everybody showing love. Everybody saying here to support, that's what going on right now. This what we gotta do to get respect, like. And what's so crazy about it that, ain't nobody hear us until we do ****, until we do stuff like this. Like from the riot, everybody breaking stuff. Didn't nobody trip off of that until everybody started breaking. Though, it was all on BET, CNN. Everyone wasn't worrying about the Michael brown death. You got bigger and better, bigger and other things to worry about than people breaking into these stores. I understand what they did was wrong, but you gotta realize if the law gonna sit there and shoot this man like that, we wouldn't go through none of this. The stores wouldn't have gotten broken into. Broke into, footlocker wouldn't get broke into, this wouldn't get burnt down, if it weren't for them. And this is where we go. 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