How to Talk to Your Child About Refugees: Starting in Your Home
As a parent, my hope is to raise caring, strong, and compassionate children that become good global citizens.
And yet as an adult, I’m aware that many subjects, such as that of refugees, can be a complicated topic in today’s world. Not only does it often bring political debate, but also the complexity of understanding the various terms when people speak about refugees.
Like what’s the difference between a refugee, an immigrant, and an asylum seeker? As adults and caretakers, we often feel the need to understand something fully before being able to support our children or teach our children on a subject, and while at times having a framework may be helpful, we can also model open-mindedness and curiosity through learning together.
So, where to begin? If volunteering is not a concept that you’ve introduced to your child yet, you may want to start there. Below we’ve listed some activities you can start with at home to help your child learn about volunteering, how to do something altruistic, as well as start to experience the social-emotional learning that coincides with volunteering.
Complete someone else’s chore
Cook breakfast or dinner for a family member
Call an extended family member
More ideas in Jaclyn’s blog Experiences are the Real Gifts
How to Engage in discussions and Learning Together
A good place to start when engaging in conversations with your child is exploring what they may already know or have heard. This provides an opportunity to explore and dispel any misconceptions or stereotypes and provides a jumping-off point of where to start. Because many children get their information from other peers, exploring their sources and learning together from credible resources can be helpful.
Try exploring credible and reliable resources that provide information on refugees and immigrants and increase media literacy. There are several great sites that have an abundance of resources for a range of age groups and subject areas. A few that may be helpful include:
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency with the mandate to protect, assist, and resettle refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people.
The Refugee Services of Texas, although now closed due to financial strains, welcomed refugees, asyslees, survivors of trafficking, and other displaced peoples and still has great information, FAQs, and stats on their website.
Multicultural Refugee Coalition is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization employing refugees, immigrants, and asylees in fair-wage, dignified work through two social enterprises: a textile manufacturing studio and an organic farm.
Caritas of Austin works to end homelessness in Austin including as it relates to serving refugees and immigrants.
“We still encourage you to be involved with the content your children are consuming and helping them to keep this content as diverse as possible. Rent or stream movies and documentaries about experiences outside of those that your family has experienced. Encourage your child to listen to podcasts, read articles, or watch the news and to engage with what they are listening to or reading. Ask them questions, guide their viewing or listening, and be willing to talk with them about what they have learned.”
- Colleen Turner, LCSW, Senior Therapist at Ensemble Therapy
Go Deeper on One Topic
Once you’ve explored credible resources with your child, choose one to dive into deeper. For many kids, learning through videos is more engaging than reading, so you may want to find a documentary to watch as part of your search for new information. There are lots of great documentaries and videos that provide a glimpse into the lives of refugees and explore the topic of immigration. We recommend watching any documentary or video first to see if it's appropriate for your child, their understanding, and current needs.
Although engaging in direct conversations regarding important topics can be beneficial, we also encourage these conversations to remain ongoing and integrated into your child’s learning about the world. Books provide a simple yet effective way to continue conversations and introduce topics to help children learn about complex topics in developmentally appropriate ways. Furthermore, books can provide exposure to the reader on various topics, differences, and dilemmas allowing them to evaluate and develop further understanding and complex thinking.
Our bibliotherapy guide includes books on diverse populations including displaced persons. A few we suggest checking out and adding to your home library include:
Our bibliotherapy guide provides you with questions to get the conversation rolling and start unpacking and diving deeper to further make connections and understanding. Engaging in social-emotional learning can not only help with understanding but also with increasing empathy and connection.
For many children, starting with the topic of home and moving can be a good place to start.
Try expanding on these questions with your children:
Social-Emotional Learning Questions
How do you feel when you're planning to go somewhere new and you're not sure what it will be like?
How do you feel when you're away from home and somewhere new?
What makes you feel better when you miss home?
What do you think it might feel like to go somewhere new and not know the language everyone speaks?
What could you do to help someone your age who is a refugee? How would you make them feel included?
Once you’ve set the foundation of learning and discussing, it might be a good opportunity to participate in some hands-on activities. Not only can these lead to insightful conversations and further learning but also provide an opportunity for connection and strengthening of relationships amongst family members.
Family activity ideas:
Cook a native dish together from a country in which many refugees are from
Explore and listen to popular songs and music from other cultures than your own
Talk about holidays including that of other cultures, countries, and identities
Make a garland of country flags
Each family member writes a letter/draw a picture to a refugee of similar age
If you missed why these conversations are important, check out our previous blog on How to Talk to Your Child About Refugees and stay tuned for our next blog about Expanding into the Community coming soon.
Interested in booking a session with us?
WRITTEN BY DAKOTA BECKER, LPC, RPT™, NCC, IPT-CST (SHE/HER/HERS)
Dakota is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), Registered Play Therapist™ (RPT™), National Certified Counselor (NCC) and Institute of Play Therapy Certified Sandtray Therapist (IPT-CST). She received her Master’s Degree in Counseling from the University of North Texas through their nationally known play therapy program as well as has her Bachelor’s Degree in Child Development.
WRITTEN BY RACHEL ESPARZA, LPC ASSOCIATE (SHE/HER/HERS)
Rachel Esparza is a Licensed Professional Counselor Associate supervised by Jaclyn N. Sepp, MA, LPC-S, RPT-S™, NCC, RYT® 200. Rachel is also working towards her Registered Play Therapist™ (RPT™) credential. At Texas State University, Rachel earned her Master’s degree in Professional Counseling (CACREP Accredited Program) and her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology. She has experience working with children, adolescents, young adults, and families in community counseling settings.