Agencies

As protests advocating for an end to racial inequality and police brutality continue to grow in communities around the country, many children may have questions about the images they’re seeing on the news and the conversations they’re hearing.

For children, current events can be difficult to understand. However, experts say positive discussions about race and racism are important to have with children right now — especially in homes where it hasn’t been a topic of discussion before now.

“Unfortunately, our children of color — especially our black children — have been aware and probably to some extent have experienced the direct and indirect result of systemic racism,” an assistant professor in the department of psychology at Clark University in Massachusetts.

One of academic focuses has been on ethnic-racial identity in early childhood and the experiences children have in regard to their race and ethnicity.

“Conversations about racism and discrimination have been part of the daily lives of black families even before George Floyd,” explained.

But because of the social media coverage, she said most kids probably have at least some awareness of recent events and issues surrounding race — even those who don’t identify as black themselves.