Conversations with kids about race 

Children develop ideas about race at a young age, whether adults talk to them about it or not. 

Well-intentioned parents and teachers often say that not talking about race with children will help to reduce racism. Such adults believe that kids are too young to handle information about racism or too innocent to engage with controversial or disturbing topics in the news. Talking about race, this argument goes, only reinforces racism; by avoiding race and racism entirely, kids will come to see everyone as equal.  

The problem with this argument is that social science research has shown us for decades that young children notice racial differences at very young ages and learn societal rules about race throughout childhood. Research also shows that although White parents often avoid talking about race with children, parents raising kids of color tend to employ a range of different strategies to help their children navigate a racist social structure — and that kids benefit from such conversations (Hughes et al., 2006). My own research suggests that kids are talking about race, racism, and controversial current events with each other, whether their parents and teachers know it or not. Adults and educators must therefore provide young people with not only the necessary tools to help them understand race and racism but also the opportunity to be heard.