Children and advocacy.
Now there are two words not often found together, especially when referring to the children doing the advocacy. I think there are a few reasons for this.

One is that adults simply do not remember to share concerns worth advocating for, or against, with children. In our current whirl-wind of charities, good causes and the busy-ness of life it is easy to forget to include children in what’s going on. Conversation is often limited to what happened at school, the new soccer coach or what’s for dinner. We tend to keep deeper issues to adult conversations.

Another reason is that we forget the intense awareness children have of the world around them. We forget how it felt to be a child watching the World Vision ad about starving children in Africa. We forget the number of adult conversations children eavesdrop and wonder about. The eavesdropping that often results in fear or sadness, with uncertainty as to how to react. We believe the constructed idea that childhood is all innocence and kittens – when actually children can be acutely alive to the brokenness of our world.

And yet another reason we tend to leave children out of conversations about, or actions involving, advocacy is that we don’t know how children can be involved. We know they might care, but don’t know how to include them. This, I think, does not have to be as debilitating as we make it. Often children are already constructing their own ideas that just need supporting. (I’ve heard of children running cake stalls to raise money for sponsor children). Sometimes adult activities (like corresponding with politicians) just need to be translated to a child’s level. Often adults need to carefully consider wording and presentation of an issue to make it age appropriate. But there is often a language and story available to sensitively explain most issues.

This last December I decided to participate inDressember. For each day of the month I wore a dress and asked people to sponsor me to raise money for International Justice Mission – an organisation that fights human trafficking. As I shared with my daughter and her friend about my plan to wear dresses and why, they grew interested. When I saw where their hearts were, that they understood the issues and lives at stake, I signed them up for Dressember as well. They worked as a team, spreading the word until several more girls from school decided todon the dress  for a good cause. All because I bothered to talk about the issue on my heart, in a way that they could connect with and then back them as they stepped up to the challenge in their 13 year old way.

Yes, children can be involved in all sorts of advocacy. But it takes us adults to walk that journey beside them as they rise up and change the world.