Translating to 'Kid': Resources for Talking about Race with People of Many Ages

When I was a kid, I hated when adults would talk about something, and I would ask a question, and they would say, "It's an adult thing," and then I'd have to go figure it out on my own.

Because I was always so annoyed by the adults doing that, now that I'm an adult, I try to translate complex topics into 'kid'. I don't think of it as simplifying. I think of it as translating. It involves considering the child's age, background knowledge, temperament, and interests, and then being clear, complete, and honest. I'm never looking to be simple. I'm looking to explain in a way that makes sense.

Sometimes, translating to 'kid' is fairly easy. For example, when the rising 4th grader asked about taxes, it felt easy to explain that we pay taxes to fund roads and bridges and schools and parks and other things that are good for everyone. It also felt easy to say that different people have different ideas about what's good and useful for everyone, and that's why people often fight about where those taxes go.

Sometimes, translating to 'kid' is harder. For example, in March, when the then 3-year-old asked why every day was a home day now, I had to think pretty hard about how to explain a pandemic without giving her a complex about germs. (I also had to cry a little when I left the room, but my guess is that I'm not the only one who was feeling that way in March)   

When I imagine the people reading this blog (I mean, other than my mother), I usually imagine NH adults who have young people in their lives. Sometimes, those young people might be the adults' students, and sometimes those young people might be children who live with the adults.  

Right now, I suspect that a lot of those NH adults are thinking a lot about how to have conversations with their young people about some pretty big topics, like race, anti-racism, Black Lives Matter, social justice, bias, etc. 

(BTW - I also suspect that some of the other adults who read this blog are like, "Duh. I'm all set already." To them I say: thank goodness, and please share your resources with me.)  

One of the things I've noticed about myself as a person who is white is that, for a long time, I didn't have much language around race and racism. When I finally did start to have language around race and racism, I couldn't always have those conversations in 'kid'. 

Although I generally jump right into complex conversation with children (see Talking about Slavery with the First Grader), one thing I recognize is that the more language I have around a topic, the better I am at talking about it in 'kid'. 

If you, like me, are always looking to expand your language, here are some just plain amazing resources:

Resources for watching and listening and learning with children:

• Kidlit Rally for Black Lives - Children’s writers are really good with words, and this has some amazing language for children about racism, antiracism, and Black Lives Matter.  
• But Why’s Call-in Show About Racism - But Why is a podcast for children, where children get to ask the questions.
• Sweet Blackberry - Sweet Blackberry “brings little-known stories of African-American achievement to children everywhere” through animated stories.

Resources for adults to watch, read, listen, and learn:

• PBS’s Compilation of Resources on Talking to Kids about Race and Racism - This collection has both articles and videos, and it includes book lists to diversify what you read with the children in your life.
• When are Children Old Enough to Learn About Racism? - This article is about slavery in particular rather than racism as a whole, and the article shares some useful language and important ideas about language around race.

Books about racism/antiracism to read with kids:

• Not My Idea, A Book about Whiteness (Higgenbotham, A.) - This book is a picture book specifically focused on helping children who are White understand and think about what Whiteness means.
• This Book is Anti-racist (Jewell, T.) - This book is suited for children in upper-elementary through the middle grades and talks through understanding identity, becoming aware of racism, and taking anti-racist action. 
• Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You (Reynolds, J.; Kendi, I.X.) - This book is geared towards children who are 12 & up and focuses on making different aspects of racism visible through historical stories. 

And finally, because it's important to read books by diverse authors that feature diverse characters, and because it's important that those books focus on the full lives of those diverse characters, here are two amazing booklists:

• Brown Bookshelf - The Brown Bookshelf shares in-depth information about authors, with a mission of highlighting and amplifying the work of authors of color. 
• We Need Diverse Books - The We Need Diverse Books website has a huge compilation of booklists categorized by topics.