Free Access

Children are acutely tuned to pick up on disturbances. Even if we think they have not seen an image of a protestor or heard us talking about the unrest in the world, they know something is up. Not talking to kids about times of social unrest is not an option. Even if they do not see it this time they will encounter it at some point. We live in a country that allows protests, which is a great thing! We need to give them context to why and how so they can interpret the things they see and hear appropriately.

In your lesson say something like:

I wanted to talk to you about a word you may be hearing, that word is “racism.” Racism is when people are treated differently because of the color of their skin. There used to be stores that only people with light colored, or white skin, could go in to (if you have a personal memory of a “whites only” space this is a great time to share. Consider also sharing how you felt surprised, angry, etc). That was unfair to people who did not have white skin. Unfortunately, there is still racism in our world and that has made a lot of people mad these past few weeks.

You may have heard that these mad people are protesting. Protesting is something very important in America. Protesting is a way for us to let people who make the rules know we do not like something. Protesting is usually a group of people with signs who stand or march around a special area, but sometimes people get so angry they make bad choices. They sometimes break things or steal things. That has happened this week too, which makes for some really scary pictures on TV.

What I want you to know is that your parents and the adults in this church will do everything we can to keep you safe. If you are feeling scared ask questions. Sometimes we are scared because we do not know what is happening. Then our imaginations go wild with what if and what does that mean and what happens next. This is not the first time protests have happened and not the first time we have had to talk about racism. Ask an adult what they feel and think and know and don't be afraid to tell them if you are scared.

If you are feeling angry, maybe you have a friend who is black who you care about and do not want them to be bullied by a racist, a great thing you can do is listen. Ask your friend what it is like to be treated differently. Listening to their story without talking shows them we care and helps us understand a different experience.

Getting rid of racism in the world can feel like a really big job. Adults have been trying to get rid of it for hundreds of years! We have made progress but there is still a long way to go. It can feel like a huge problem to solve, but there are people in the Bible who know what that is like. Jesus asked a group of people to go out in the world and tell people about him. At the time it was a huge task! Only a few people knew about Jesus then and Jesus wanted the whole world to know his name. It was a big job. But think about today’s world, it is actually much harder today to find someone who has not heard about Jesus. That means those people did a great job spreading the news about Jesus. They told as many people as they could, and those people told more people until we get to today. That gives us a lot of hope that we can change the world too, just by starting with a few people.

Let’s pray together.

Amazing God, getting rid of racism is a big job but we want to do our part. We pray for a world where racism does not exist. Help us make that world real. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.