Hi there,

This is our last piece in our series on the Do’s and Don’ts of Protesting With Kids. Read Part 1 and Part 2 before you delve into today’s article. Once you’ve done your research and determined that you’re going to bring your kids to a protest, here are some things to do when protesting with children—and what to definitely not do.

Let’s dive right in, shall we?

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DO’S

1. Do Discuss The Protest With Your Kid Beforehand

Protesting for the sake of protesting (or the pictures!) is not the way to go. When you use a protest to teach your kiddos lessons about why you’re protesting and how you are taking action against injustice as a family, that’s when it starts to make a difference. So before the protest, carve out time to make the protest meaningful by having an age- and kid-appropriate convo with them about WHY you’re protesting, why THEY are coming along, and the role of children in advocating for justice. Give them time to ask questions and do some research together. It’s also smart to talk with them about what they can expect and what to look out for.

2. Do Frame The Protest In The Context of History and The Current Conditions

Tabitha here: One of our kiddos is old enough to understand historical references and issues of injustice so we try to get into this with him. He’s old enough to understand that this generation didn’t invent protesting, though they play a significant role in movements, AND that the issues at hand have an historical framework that is necessary to understand. Here are some of our favorite books on ways people resisted injustice in history. Never underestimate our older kids’ capacity to make deeper meaning of protests.

3. Do Try To Teach Age- and Kid-Appropriate Lessons Through Their Lens

As we said, before heading to a protest, we take time to talk with our kids about the issue(s) that will be addressed at the protest. We read books, ask questions, answer their questions, share age-appropriate news clips, and try to give as much info as possible while being aware of their cognitive bandwidth. We also get creative. Kids can think about what messages they want to convey on their signs. This is a great way to engage them beforehand and start conversations about the WHY of the protest. Pull out the markers and crayons and glitter and gems and let them have some fun creating their signs. We’ve seen some amazing signs made by kids.

For younger kids, print some coloring sheets that show children engaging in activism work like marching, making signs, etc. Use the coloring sheets to start conversations with your kids: “What are they doing?”, “Why do you think they’re doing that?”, “Here’s why it’s important for us to learn from them.”

4. Do Bring Your Usual Items To Keep Them Engaged.

Adam here: We recognize that we will be away from home for a minute when we go to a protest, so we always make sure to pack a bag with snacks, water, and quiet things for our kids to do to keep them engaged.

Important: If you’re going to a rally or march, be sure to check in with the organizers of the protests before the day to ask about strollers and the permissible size and type of bag, for security reasons. And remember, kids will be kids. If they get distracted midway through the protest, try not to attach judgement. Bring relevant books and coloring sheets, pencils, markers, stickers, etc., so that even when they’re doing their thing, they’re learning a lesson or two about activism.

DON’TS

1. Don’t Attend a Protest Expecting for Your Kid to Be Entertained by the Organizers

Back in April, Tabitha helped organize the D.C. Hands Off/People’s Veto Day Protest. A post on Threads from a parent after the multi-city protest caught Tabitha’s eye. You can see the exact post below (we deleted their name for privacy purposes):

While it’s awesome that they wanted to include their children, it’s unrealistic to attend a protest expecting the focus to be on fun times for your kids or for you. The goal of protest is always resistance, not entertainment. Should some protests be made accessible to families? Sure. But unless it’s specifically promoted as a family-friendly space, be aware of what your child needs to stay engaged while they learn lessons about the issues at hand. AND keeping your child engaged during a protest is the role of the parent, NOT the organizers.

2. Don’t Criticize Without Contributing.

Tabitha here: As an organizer, we want leaderful movements–ones where everyone identifies a role they can play in bringing the protest to reality. We also live in the era of social media, where we have copious amounts of criticisms about how and why people do just about everything under the sun. People, unfortunately, can sometimes dish out more criticism than contribution. So if you see room for improvement and growth, get involved! I am almost certain that when folks roll up their sleeves and join organizers in our work, they’ll see how hard movement building is and will be more likely to have grace and compassion about the growing pains that all protest actions experience. When you contribute in a more meaningful way, you also show your children what it means to make antiracism actionable—and what it really means to be an active part of a community.

3. Don’t Assume a Non-Kid-Friendly Protest Means You Can’t Bring the Message Home for Your Little Ones

Usually, national protests feature aligning actions across the country on a specific day. If you want to instill these lessons in your children and help them feel included—even when hitting the streets isn’t safe—you can start by discussing the reasons for the protest. Make signs, even if they won’t be attending. Come up with some chants and even march around your apartment or house to bring the message to life. Hitting the streets is super important. But if it’s not likely to be safe for kids, the goal is to make the lesson of resistance actionable and applicable anyway.

4. Don’t Neglect Your Kid’s Emotional and Cognitive Bandwidth

Adam here: One of our kids processes sensory stimuli in a unique way, so crowds can sometimes be a bit much for them. As we’ve said before, though Tabitha is often working at the protest, I tend to keep the kids at the edge of the crowd so they have some space to move and we have space for the stroller. I try to make sure the kids and I don’t get in anyone’s way AND I always map out safe exit routes in the unlikely event that it becomes unsafe for our kids. If your little ones are so overwhelmed that they can’t listen and process the lessons of protests, it’s harder for them to form affirming memories and a strong sense of activism within themselves.

If we want our kiddos to be raised understanding the value and power of protest, community, solidarity, justice and action, we absolutely have to teach them the lessons through words AND actions. We believe in fusing kid-appropriate, fun activities with lessons about justice and equity. So to the person who expected a bouncy house at a protest, we want to stress that that activity hits the FUN mark but doesn’t actually teach anything about these values. Instead, bring a few books about children fighting for justice (we like this one). Read to your kid or have them read themselves if they’re old enough. Feel free to also take breaks, especially for long protest days. The goal is the lesson that together, we can fight injustice by resisting and making our power known and felt.

REFLECTION

We are living under truly terrifying times. People are being snatched off the streets and disappeared or deported, and this government is infringing on the rights of mostly everyone, especially those who exercise their right to free speech, those who support Palestinian liberation and immigrants. Our right to protest is at risk. Now is the time for all people with privilege to protest with all of their might. Now is the time for us to examine barriers to entry for protest, the privilege of who gets to protest without getting harmed, the realities of policing at protest and so much more. We also need to consider how our kids are internalizing this moment. Some kids are living in fear while others barely know who the president is. So we offer some reflection questions for you, if you parent children. Sit with these and jot down some thoughts that come to you as a response to each question:

• How is your kid internalizing this moment?

• How are we balancing keeping them safe with living with the realities of these times?

• How are we equipping them with the tools to fight injustice as they see it in their lives?

• How are we balancing showing up as community members while showing up as parents in these times?

These are all questions for you to ponder as you consider bringing your kids to protests.

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That’s it from us for today. If you’ve been protesting, marching and resisting, THANK YOU. Here’s to resistance, accessibility, and discernment. Here’s to a reckoning about privilege. Here’s to building a country where all of us are safe and we don’t have to worry about how to protect our kids from fascism. We’re sending you love. Connect with a human off the internet today, okay?

Tabitha & Adam

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Hi there,

Today’s email is Part 2 in our series on the Do’s and Don’ts of protesting with kids. In Part 1, we explored when to include kids here. In Part 2, we think about the different types of protests as we continue to explore family engagement at protests. Let’s jump in, shall we?

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It’s become very clear that many people actually aren’t aware of the types of protest interventions, and may be thinking universally not to take kids. Not all protests involve the same level of planning and not all protests include the same level of potential risk for children. All, however, do serve a role in our fight against injustice and they are all needed. It’s also helpful to distinguish between the types of protests so that our expectations can be measured. Here are some of the main types and what you need to know as a parent/caregiver:

RALLIES
These gatherings tend to be bigger in number of attendees and feature broader messaging that may create a larger umbrella for a wide range of people to attend. Rallies often include speakers and maybe a performance or two. For example, the 2025 Hands Off/ People’s Veto Day rally in DC was an empowering and relevant event for families. Rallies are usually great with kids because you can literally set up house somewhere on the outskirts of the rally site where there aren’t as many people. This way, your little ones can have some space while you can still hear the program.

MARCHES
Marches have defined start and end points and usually begin or end with a rally. Some marches can also be suitable for kids because families can join closer to the end, so you can go at your own pace depending on your comfort level. If you stay on the outside of the march, like we usually do, you can take your kids to the side for anything they need or to get out of the way quickly, if needed. The 2017 Women’s March, which included a stroller brigade, is a great example. Families with young kids moved along at their own pace AND were part of the energy.

ART BUILDS

Art builds usually take place at a local center where people can make protest signs, banners, etc for a rally or march. Again, they can be super engaging for kids because there’s space for them to get creative. Art builds also tend to have less people than a march or rally. Our daughter attended her first art build at just 5-months-old and, even at that age, she seemed to love the bright colors and watching others create art for the march.

STORYTELLING EVENTS
Storytelling events can be a part of rallies or marches or they can stand alone. These gatherings are specifically designed for people who are impacted negatively by injustice so that they can have space to share about their experiences. Planned Parenthood often has storytellers at their rallies. Consider the age of your child and their ability to intake sometimes intense information when deciding to attend storytelling events. For example, a storytelling event about racism may be appropriate for a 10-year-old, but one for survivors of sexual violence might not be. You know your kid best!

CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE
Parents can usually find out if a protest is likely to include the risk of civil disobedience by contacting the organizers. These protests are usually not for young children due to the unpredictability of police presence and the possibility of arrests. Ultimately, it’s up to each parent to decide what’s safe for their families. We tend to not take our kids to protests where arrests are likely, unless we are clear that we can move away when civil disobedience begins. The conditions are too unpredictable—our children are super young and it’s overwhelming in those situations to take care of our own safety and their safety at the same time. However, we have been to some protests where people were arrested. In these situations, we moved away from the center of the action as soon as we saw the potential for arrests brewing. It’s also important to realize that, in a fascist state, any protest can possibly result in arrests. So use your judgement, and err on the side of caution for the safety of your kids.

RAPID RESPONSE

Rapid response protests usually occur when an instance of injustice quickly mobilizes either a community or the country (or even the world!) into the streets. There remains varying levels of planning even with rapid response protests, and most often it occurs in response to a tragic event so emotions tend to be very high. In 2020, after George Floyd was murdered by police officers, emotions were high and raw as individuals spilled into not just the streets around the site of his killing, but also across the world. Many Black people worldwide identified with the experience of being discriminated against and harmed because of racist systems, including the policing system and other ones designed to protect some people (white people) over others (Black and Brown people). Though we both (Adam and I) have seen the importance of joining our community for rapid response protests to both show solidarity and to collectively grieve, we tend to go to these protests by ourselves, without our children. When we have taken our young children to rapid response protests, we stayed on the edge of the crowd.

These are only a few types of protests—and they can certainly overlap. Organizers also may get creative when it comes to some protest actions (like the recent Kick Out The Clowns actions), so contacting them is usually a great way to figure out if/how you can keep your kids safe.

How To Contact Protest Organizers

The contact information for organizers can usually be found on the social media of one of the convening organizations or by direct messaging an organizer who posts a flier for a protest on social media. You can also send a message via an organization’s contact form, if an organization is involved. For some rallies and marches, mass organizing calls may be offered where the public can ask questions and receive answers.

Children Have Long Been A Part of Protest Movements

One last thing to really think about is your child’s age and their ability to assess risk as well as keep themselves safe. Kids have historically been a part of protest spaces, from being present in organizing rooms to actually hitting the streets during the 1963 Birmingham Children’s March, where children from the ages of 7-18 made the informed decision to protest. These kids were of the age where they understood the realities of the risk. They saw the risk of staying silent all around them and they chose to take action. The same occurred in 2018 when millions of children and young people walked out of schools to demand safety from gun violence. There were over 7000 individual walkouts, making it the largest decentralized day of protest in American history (Tabitha was honored to help guide the national youth team in their efforts). We wouldn’t depend on our 5-year-old, for instance, to have the capacity to make the safety assessment of protesting on her own while our 10-year-old could do it in some situations.

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We’re going to end today’s email here and we invite you to drop a comment or question below! In our next email, we’ll jump into our do’s and don’ts of protesting with kids.

Take good care of yourself and your loved ones, ok?

Tabitha & Adam

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Our son has been attending protests since he was a toddler and our daughter joined her first protest as a wee thing of 5 months old. Over the years, they’ve attended dozens of local and national protests—from rallies and marches to art builds. We’ve learnt a thing or two along the way and, later in this series, we’re going to share some of our main do’s and don'ts for bringing kids to protests, especially as us parents are seeing weekly and monthly, sometimes daily, protests throughout our country in response to the slew of injustices being brought by this administration.

But first, let’s ground ourselves in some key realities.

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Are protests the place to bring children?

We want to reframe this question. Is it about bringing kids to protests or is it about raising kids surrounded by values and practices of justice, equity and community through our words and actions? If your commitment is to surround your kids with these values, then raising them going to protests is but one part of that. Our kids have been attending protests for years so we say YES, kids absolutely should be at some protests. They need to see in real life the impact of people advocating for the rights of all. Participating in protests brings lessons in social justice to life for kids. You can read all the kids books about protests— it’s another thing altogether to watch your children learn a chant and join a crowd of people in solidarity.

Not all protest spaces can be made accessible to kids.

This is a reality based on the nature of protest actions. We’re living under fascist times when protest is becoming more risky. Historically, protest has always been risky, at times leading to great harm for those who put their bodies on the line for freedom for all. (And they did it anyway so you and I can enjoy many of the rights we have today!) When there are safety concerns, as there always will be (and especially so for Black and Brown people), parents need to determine if you can maintain your safety and your kids’ at the same time. Children depend on us parents/caregivers to make that safety assessment for them.

Every protest has the potential to become violent.

From Los Angeles to New York City, protesters have been facing brutal violence from police. Protesting by nature is never guaranteed to be safe. Protest is a resistance to injustice and power and whenever those in power start to feel that stronghold slipping away, they may respond with violence. Even protests that are designed to be non-violent may turn violent because of police and state intervention. This is a reality that all parents/caregivers must reckon with as we think about if, when and how to engage our children in protest actions.

Understand that who gets to protest safely is racialized.

Police have historically treated crowds of Black protesters much worse than crowds of white protesters—Black protesters have, time and time again, been met with tear gas, violence, provocation, and more. Crowds of predominantly white protesters have usually been allowed to protest however they choose. Understandably, Black parents may be more reluctant to take young kids to protests where the unpredictability of policing is a real factor for us. We also know this can be true for other marginalized communities as well, such as anyone who is undocumented. And that reluctance should not be questioned. In fact, this reality should inspire white parents to examine their privilege (and that of their family), and to understand that when assuming their own safety, this is not always true for everyone.

Should protests cater to the needs of kids?

Protests don’t necessarily need to be kid-centric spaces—though we have helped plan some that are, and those absolutely should exist. But we do think we can have more intentionality about including kids in some protests because we want multigenerational protest spaces. We want to include the youngest and we want to include the oldest in our resistance work.

At our synagogue, there is a blanket at the back of the main room where everyone congregates. This blanket is next to a container of “quiet” toys. Almost every Shabbat morning that we are able to attend services, we see a baby with a caregiver or a kid playing quietly in the back. Here’s what that accomplishes:

1. That kid is absorbing the atmosphere of the services whether they realize it or not.

2. That child gets the message that they belong in the space and the community.

3. It allows the parents/caregivers to be a part of the services while watching their kid.

4. It sends a message to all present that kids belong in the main part of the services.

We say all this to emphasize that not ALL protests are able to cater to the needs of kids (Part 2 in this series will cover more information on types of protests).

And this requires repeating. White parents—because of white dominance, because of them being accustomed to being centered, catered to, and listened to—may struggle in spaces where their children’s needs are de-centered. We can acknowledge that several things can be true: White children (and parents/caregivers) can learn about what it means to decenter their whiteness while maintaining their sense of self AND we can ask for protest spaces to consider multi-generationality for ALL people to feel welcomed at least some of the time.

There are many other ways to engage in social justice movements.

Social justice actions aren’t just limited to protests. And, key: Organizing also doesn’t begin or end at the actual protest. Kids can participate in organizing meetings and sign-making events, go on rides with their parents to pick up supplies for the protest, etc. There are ways to engage kids in protests even without attending that still include them in fighting for the world we want to build.

Protest accessibility can change depending on the age of the kid.
For the Hands Off/People’s Veto Day protest in April that I helped organize, Adam kept our kids at the edge of the crowd. He took them to the Women’s March sign-making table and helped them think through WHY they were protesting so they could decide what to put on their signs. Later, I took our son into the crowd with me. He is 10 and has been going to protests for most of his life, so he knows a thing or two about situational awareness. I held his hand (he only grumbled a tiny bit about this) or I kept my eyes on him. Together, we got water bottles from backstage to hand out to seniors and folks in the ADA section. Then, we stood in the crowd (my arms around his shoulders so I could keep physical tabs on him) and together we heard a speaker share about being young and trans. My son actually really listened to the speeches because his developmental ability allows for that. My 5-year-old, on the other hand? She stayed with Adam at the edge of the crowd the entire time—she needed space to run around and that simply wasn’t safe or realistic in the midst of the crowd. Both approaches are okay.

Protest accessibility for your kids should depend on your ability to keep them safe.

Some practical things to consider in this regard:

• Find a map of the action site. Reach out to organizers ahead of time if one is not available publicly (we talk about how to contact organizers in Part 2 of this series).

• Identify a few exit routes for you and your kids.

• Reach out to other friends with kids and get a group together to attend.

• If your kids are young, you might want to find space at the edge of the crowd with them, as we’ve said before.

• Bring enough snacks, water, etc., so you can stay in one spot, but also be prepared to be mobile, if safety demands it.

• Write your name and phone number on the inside of their arm, just in case you get separated.

Many parents have been involving our kids in social justice actions for a long time. Learn from those who already do it.

We don’t have to reinvent the wheel. If you don’t know how to do this and want to see it in action, tap into local communities of parents who organize and follow their lead.

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Lots of things to consider, right? As parents who strive to raise antiracist kids, it’s important for us to not only center their safety but also the lessons they are learning from both their own experiences and watching us maneuver the world.

That’s it from us for today. We’ll soon be releasing Part 2 in this series where we dive into a few different types of protests and what they can look like for families. Until then, connect with someone in an intentional way, ok? Ask a friend to join you for coffee or tea or water. Human connection and community are key in these times. Take good care of each other.

Tabitha

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