Amiyrah Martin of Edison , New Jersey , an African-American mom of two , says she and her husband are still trying to figure out how to sit their 8-year-old son down and explain the Trayvon Martin case and its conclusion -- without getting emotional . `` My biggest issue is ... giving him the facts rather than getting upset and giving him how I feel , because I want him to come to his own consensus , '' the host of the blog Four Hats and Frugal said in an interview . `` My husband is the same way . He 's very emotional about it ... so he does n't want him to think , 'Well , Dad feels this way so I should . ' He wants him to create his own opinion . '' When Martin , who is not related to Trayvon Martin 's family , ultimately has the conversation with her little guy , who always `` likes to know the why , '' he 'll no doubt ask about race , she said . `` We 're going to have to tell him that it may have been due to Trayvon 's race , and this is how it happened , and this is how George Zimmerman decided to react to it , '' she said . `` It 's going to be very hard to sit him down and have the conversation , but we know we have to do it . '' While not everyone agrees that Martin was racially profiled , the case and the protests that followed have led to larger conversations between parents and kids . Some are focusing on race -- Martin was black and Zimmerman identifies as Hispanic , so it 's not just a black and white issue . Still , others are n't even talking about race but are focusing on behavior . But when I set out to interview moms about the verdict , and ask what they are telling their kids , I got two very different responses . African-American moms like Amiyrah Martin were extremely willing and interested to talk about their experiences , while very few moms who were not African-American came forward . Then I saw a post by Liz Gumbinner , a white mom of two and author of the blog Mom-101 , which explained a lot -- that white moms are n't talking about the story , at least not publicly , and they should be . `` I think that non-African-Americans are talking about it privately , but they are nervous to talk about it publicly , and I think this is an ongoing issue in the U.S. , that race is still a topic that people are afraid to discuss unless you 're a person of color and you 're living it every day , '' Gumbinner told me . `` It 's easy for my friends of color who are mothers to say , 'That could have been my kid and it feels personal , ' and it 's easier for them to speak out and take action the way I think so many white people did with Sandy Hook , for example -- 'That could have been my kid , ' '' she added . `` What 's important is for us to remember is that it could have been any of our kids , skin color aside , and so there are so many layered issues that we have to have these conversations . '' Gumbinner says she has n't talked with her girls , ages 6 and 8 , about the Trayvon Martin case , but if her 8-year-old hears about it , she 'll discuss it with her . `` I 'd rather talk about the macro issue with her , about treating people with respect and not judging people based on how they look , than get into the details of a murder case . She is still very young . '' One mom 's message to her kids . While some parents may approach the topic from the viewpoint that Martin was more likely to be treated differently because he was African-American , other parents are using the case as a behavioral lesson and leaving race aside . Catherine Martines Mortensen , a mom of two in Fairfax , Virginia , watched a lot of the trial with her 15-year-old daughter and 10-year-old son , and discussed the verdict when it was handed down . `` I told my kids both people used really poor judgment , '' she said during an interview . `` They had assumptions about the other , even without knowing the situation . Neither one of them should have engaged . They should have left . '' `` I told my kids , if they are ever in a situation where they do n't know if someone 's following them or what 's going on , they just need to get home . Do n't linger around , '' she said . As they watched the trial , she said her kids were constantly trying to figure out who was right and who was wrong . `` My kids would go back and forth . One would say , 'Well , Trayvon , it was his fault because he started the fight . ' The other one would have said , 'Well , Zimmerman , he should have never gotten out of the car . ' I think it was never clear-cut . '' `` A lot of times children 's brains will try to process information in a very black and white way , but in this case , they could n't do that , '' she said . Comforting a brother who does n't understand . Cindy Rodriguez , editor for Latino audiences at CNN.com , went to pick up her 14-year-old brother for a movie outing Sunday , a day after the verdict was announced . Her brother carried a hoodie over his arm . His father told him not to put it on until they got inside the movie theater . Her brother did n't understand , and told Rodriguez their dad said it 's because of `` that kid that died . '' `` He did n't have a gun on him , right ? So why would that other guy shoot him ? '' her little brother asked . When she told him about the `` stand your ground '' law in Florida , her brother responded that Trayvon Martin was `` so small . '' `` Every question that seems so obvious to everyone that 's so shocked by the verdict , I see it in my little brother 's eyes , '' she told me . `` He said , ' I just do n't get it . ... Why would they have that law ? ' `` Rodriguez said she has steered away from talking about race with her brother , saying she was always raised to believe she is the same as everyone else . But after the Trayvon Martin case , she felt she needed to talk with her brother about it . `` We kind of live in a world where the minority teenager with the hoodie on means trouble , and unfortunately that 's kind of the way things are going now , '' she told her brother . She told him he might not encounter racism now because he lives in a predominantly Hispanic community , but that when he leaves his neighborhood in North Bergen , New Jersey , that could change . `` People are going to approach you differently , '' she told him , giving a big-sister message she really wishes she 'd never had to give . Conflicted about whether to have the conversation . Marie Stroughter , an African-American mother with three children , including a 15-year-old son , said she and her husband are having `` deep '' conversations about whether they should talk with their kids about the case and the reactions to the verdict . `` I think our fear is we 've raised them as much as possible in this society to be pretty much colorblind , '' the co-creator of the blog African-American Conservatives told me during an interview . `` I mean , they are aware of their own heritage , but our fear is injecting thoughts into them that they do n't necessarily need to have . Do we want them to view people with suspicion that do n't need to be viewed with suspicion ? '' Stroughter worries that by telling her children to watch out for discrimination from certain people , they 'll end up doing the very thing she wants them to avoid -- racially profiling others . While she tries to figure out what to do , she says she and her husband will continue to rely on their strong Christian faith . `` The only thing we can think of is to teach them Christian values that are colorblind , '' she added . Mom guilt . Amiyrah Martin showcased a picture of her son on a post titled `` This is My Boy , '' in which she confessed to feeling something else after the Travyon Martin verdict -- mom guilt . `` I do feel a little bit of guilt because I did bring him into this world , him and his sister , and they 're going to have a lot of adversity still to come -- so should I have thought about that before I brought them into this world ? Is it fair that I did that to them ? And that 's been in the back of my mind quite a bit since it happened , '' she told me . When Martin ultimately has the talk with her son , I do n't know if she 'll share that she 's feeling some mom guilt . Maybe if we 'd all start talking about race in all of our households -- not just the ones headed by African-Americans -- moms like Martin would n't have anything to feel guilty about . Follow Kelly Wallace on Twitter and on Google+ and like CNN Living on Facebook .
George Zimmerman 's trial has ignited discussions of race , guns and safety . Score: 6 African-American parents have explained that their children might face more scrutiny . Non-African-American parents must discuss race with their kids too , a blogger argues .