Respecting the differences between people | Mariana Chartier | TEDxYouth@BSCR

Why is it important that since children are taught to respect each other's differences? Mariana Chartier shares with us her experience in searching for respect and the values she has learnt, even if it is only at nine years of age. Mariana is a nine-year-old girl that has always been enthusiastic for school and passionate about defending her ideas. Since little, she thought that everyone deserves to be treated the same. Now she is looking forward to spreading her ideas as much as possible.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

Good afternoon, everybody.

My name is Mariana.

Today I'm going to talk to you about
respecting differences between people.

Because it makes me
terribly angry and terribly sad

that some people think
they're less important than others

just because they're different.

Some people have different
problems and differences.

However, they deserve
to be treated the same.

We need to help them.

We need to give them a hand.

A very good way to help
is just by respecting them.

For example, I wouldn't laugh at them.

I would laugh with them.

Stand up for yourself.

And if you're brave enough,

stand up for others.

Also, I bet we all have abilities, right?

Well, that's the first thing
you need to recognize:

recognize your abilities,
and then work on your weaknesses.

I understand we all might feel
very scared or very shy

to tell a super footballer friend

you're any good at playing football.

But I would tell you something.

Don't keep it secret.

Stop comparing,

compliment instead.

Remember, we're all different.

Furthermore, we also need
to understand their background.

How many of you have been vaccinated
when you were smaller?

I could guess all of you.

I could also guess
you've got a lot of pain.

Just like I understand your background,

you need to understand others' background.

We need to understand their culture.

For example, Indians don't eat beef.

Another example, their emotions.

Well, if you're nervous or shy,

you might sweat
or something similar, right?

In addition, others might have
a medical situation.

Have you watched "Wonder,"
the movie about Auggie?

Well, he was actually born
with the problem on his face.

We could also have a problem
of just having one arm or one leg

or no arms or no legs

or only one ear.

However, we need to treat others
the way we would like to be treated.

To conclude,

as I said before,

some people have different problems,
abilities and weaknesses

that we need to understand and respect.

But why do we need to respect others?

In my opinion,

we need to respect others

because at the end,
we all have the same value.

Thank you for listening to my speech.

(Applause) (Cheers)

Thank you.