For years I’ve considered writing a book to help parents raising global citizens and socially conscious kids. It seemed like an overwhelming project of compiling idea after idea, resource after resource, and all of the stories myself and other conscious parents have lived out. This is why I am happy to announce that Lisa Van Engen did it instead, releasing And Social Justice for All: Empowering Families, Churches, and Schools to Make a Difference in God’s World earlier this year (and therefore taking it off my plate of things that need to be done that I don’t want to do).
Have Your Kids Ever Asked You Why Your Not Doing Something?
From the back of the book, this resonated: “With the constant barrage of difficult stories through news and social media, today’s kids are increasingly aware of the real problems real people confront every day. And they’re quicker than ever to come to parents and other trusted adults to ask how they can help–or why they’re not already doing so.”
I love it when kids ask this type of thing. Why aren’t we doing something about this, mom? Why don’t we stop that evil guy? Give them food? Bring them home?
And we respond . . . ahhh . . . it is complicated. Usually because we have no clue what we are doing ourselves.
Or, then there are the parents who tried to ignore it, and kept their kids separate from the suffering and injustice in the world (here’s why this doesn’t work). Then their kids either become indifferent, just like they modeled (but they wonder why) or their teen or college-age kid are pissed-off at them for not doing anything about these social problems, and the kids become angry activists, infants in learning how to advocate, when they could have been trained to respond well when young.
As you know, I’ve spent much of my last decade (and more) trying to figure out how to overcome this, giving everyday people ways to engage in social issues (and model that for their kids). Yes, we might do the LBD.Project for human trafficking, and there was the food backpack program, or helping empower kids about sexual exploitation, the KindnessQuest, etc… I have plenty of actions on here to give families to do.
But a full resource?
And that is why I LOVED this book. It isn’t just a book convincing you to be involved. It is a toolkit, full of conversations starters and actions.
Something I should note to all of you is that it comes from a Christian worldview. Yes, I know all of you who aren’t Jesus followers might really appreciate something like this too. (Yes, there are a handful of books at are for child activists, but honestly, the way this one is set-up is a library of information and adaptable, even for those coming from other worldviews.)
This book isn’t just about activities. It is about helping your kids process injustice and figure out their next step. Now that is empowering as a parent.
Overview
Now, I am stealing this part directly from amazon and the back of the book, but here is what it is about:
And Social Justice for All equips Christian families to tackle social justice issues together. It inspires them to bring light and love to a dark and scary world.
It goes over fourteen justice issues, like human trafficking, clean water, creation care, immigration and refugees, hunger, race, and poverty and more. So it is great that this makes these big issues easy for kids to understand.
These are the same issues we cover at Average Advocate too (and then some!) Quite a few are areas in which I am learning from to help my own kids in to become socially conscious and live justly.
“And Social Justice for All empowers both adults and children to encounter a broken world with insight and empathy. Simple yet powerful, it lights the path for families to make a real, God-directed difference together.”
So, you ready?
Get And Social Justice For All Here
Also, besides on Amazon, you can get it from my April giveaway on Instagram. You’re Welcome. 🙂
Book Giveaway Here
