Advancing the Common Good in Times of Crisis: A Guide for Parents & Families
We live and are raising children in a time when our lives are impacted by increasingly complex global crises. We continue to grapple with the loss and changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Extreme weather events—from floods to wildfires—occur with increasing frequency and intensity. Economic challenges, climate change, and violence continue to push people to cross borders.
These changes can feel overwhelming. But they also present an opportunity to consider the idea of the “common good” and how even actions that seem small can make a difference far beyond one’s own family and community.
This resource invites families to explore complex global issues together and to think through how their actions and the actions of leaders can help to promote the common good in times of crisis.
Making Caring Common collaborated with Facing History & Ourselves and The Choose Kindness Project to create this resource.
Recommendations
Consider how we are all interconnected. What does it mean to be interconnected? Brainstorm an issue that demonstrates our interconnectedness and think through how that issue impacts people living in different communities. How do stories in the news show our interconnectedness?
Reflect on the common good. What does it look like when someone is acting to promote the common good? What role do you think empathy plays in efforts to promote the common good? Think of a time when someone in your community acted to promote the common good. What did they do and how did their actions impact others?
Consider your own agency. Choose one crisis, such as climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, economic uncertainty, or global migration, to talk through with your teen. Why does this issue matter to your family, your community, and to the world? What actions related to this issue can you take to help others?
Create an action plan. Based on your responses to the previous questions, create an action plan for how you and your teen will promote the common good based on the crisis you selected. This should include the issue you have chosen and your responses to why it matters to you, your community, and the world, as well as a clear and specific goal that you and your child want to achieve related to the issue you selected.
Keep it going! Every few months, or when an issue arises that your teen is passionate about, check in about how the issue connects back to the common good and how your family can be part of the solution.
Download the toolkit for more in-depth pointers for discussing current events issues with teens.
Last updated December 2023.
Overview
For: Parents and Caregivers
Grades: 6 - 12
Resource Type: Toolkit
