Question: How Do You Explain Protesters to Children?

So we were watching the protesters and police on TV at the G20 tonight and my kids, (aged 4 and 6) both asked, “Mama, why are they arrested?”

How do you explain this to small children?

I told them that the protesters were not listening to the police, and not leaving when they were asked. (As it turns out, some of them were throwing bricks in windows, but at the time I didn’t have that information. That would have made my job easier. Little kids know all about what it means to break a rule.)

So my son said, “That’s not very nice of the police.”

Uh-oh.

I don’t want my kids to grow up fearing the police. And protesters do have the right to make their points in a non-violent manner. Most of them do, though I don’t honestly think it does much good. Maybe I’m too cynical. Or is it just realistic?

We can’t beat big business. We can’t transform health care. There are too many very interested, very rich and very powerful people who want things their way, and this does not include universal health care coverage or a higher minimum wage or greater taxation for the wealthy.

But in instances like those in Pittsburgh, the police really are trying to keep things calm. And unless you have a Trigger Happy Jack on your hands, they’re there to help and not to hurt. And if my kids should ever need a policeman, I wouldn’t want them to be afraid of to talk to one.

When I lived in California, even I was afraid of the police. And I’m a white, middle class female. And Canadian! But that’s L.A. My Latino students despised the police, and some of them had good reason: they would be harassed no matter what they did. Going for a Slushee at the Quickee Mart was a pull over offense for these kids, strictly based on how they looked.

So I grew, in my ten years there, to fear police.

But like any group of people, there are going to be extremes at both ends of the spectrum. There are kind, helpful cops who will save your life and sacrifice their own; there are also itchy finger whack jobs who have no business carrying guns. The same can be said of any group, be they protesters, police, punks or pre-Meds.

Ahh, the civics lesson. It starts so early with curious kids. Time to start thinking ahead.