--- 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. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Worth Your Time: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Worth Your Time is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. A weekly guide to what to watch, read, and more. Worth Your Time is a curated guide to the culture worth knowing, from the biggest conversations of the moment to the books, shows, ideas and discoveries worth your attention. Culture editor Eliza Berman taps TIME's collective taste and perspective to surface what is worth watching, reading, talking about and sharing, and why. 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Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published Tuesdays and Saturdays to 40,000 subscribers as of August 2026. #### 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. ## 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 ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3612265/tips-on-how-to-talk-to-your-kids-about-ferguson/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3612265/tips-on-how-to-talk-to-your-kids-about-ferguson/"},"headline":"Tips on How to Talk to Your Kids About Ferguson","datePublished":"2014-12-02T14:13:32.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:42:19.538Z","description":"Experts suggest that it's important to get the conversation going","url":"https://time.com/3612265/tips-on-how-to-talk-to-your-kids-about-ferguson/","keywords":["Living","Parenting","Family","Race","News","Tips","Ferguson"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1b0cfda8d5a97f06/69876ac55f570f85e4b13c6a/ferguson-protest-michael-brown-08.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Carey Wallace","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/carey-wallace/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1b0cfda8d5a97f06/69876ac55f570f85e4b13c6a/ferguson-protest-michael-brown-08.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"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.","caption":"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.","creditText":"Scott Olson—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-living/","name":"Living"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3612265/tips-on-how-to-talk-to-your-kids-about-ferguson/","name":"Tips on How to Talk to Your Kids About Ferguson"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"'Am I next?' 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