Welcome to the Great Lakes Students parent page!

Do Something is a series designed to help middle schoolers listen, learn, and lead in response to injustices in the world around them. This can be a difficult topic to talk about as your middle schooler may not recognize injustices they see or experience in the world. And if they do, chances are they may feel overwhelmed at the thought of trying to help! The goal of this series isn’t to motivate them to a one-time response, but rather, to help open their eyes to what injustice is and how they can be a part of the solution in listening, learning, and serving throughout the course of their lives.

Whether it’s the kid being bullied at school, the children in other countries without enough to eat, or someone in their neighborhood being judged by the color of their skin, chances are your high school students have all seen or experienced injustice in the world around them. And it’s probably caused them to stop and think, “Someone should do something about that!” Many of them are asking questions about why it’s happening, what they should do, and where God is in the midst of it. In this series, we’re going to discover how much Jesus cares about injustice and how we can see something, say something, and do something in response.

Parents are now grappling with questions related to racism, violence, and injustice. The parents I’m speaking to simply want to know: What do I say to my children about racism and the recent social unrest?
These conversations are rarely easy. This article offers four tips to parents who want to engage the topic of racism with their children in a meaningful way.

"How can you get your high schooler to open up to you? Choose to be available, choose to listen, choose to ask questions, and choose to do fun things together. None of these actions are easy. They all require sacrifice on your part as the parent. But keep in mind the bigger goal of having kids who want to open up to you, and it will all be worth it."

Our friends at Orange open up and talk about the important topic of racism in our world today and why it is important to talk about it, especially in our High School settings. Take a listen to this insightful conversation.