Imagine a classroom full of young children playing with Play-Doh. There is a big group of kids making the usual rolled snakes, jagged stars and lopsided hearts. This is where every child wants to be.
This is where the attention is drawn because these children are “normal,” but over in the far corner there is one child sitting alone. This child is constructing a house but is not offered any help. This person is “different.” This means we should stay away from him, right? Wrong.
I’m sure that at least once, everyone has felt like this outsider. Everyone, at some point, feels different.
Some critics believe people are born different while others believe people choose to be different. I do not particularly agree with either of these sides.
My sister, Emily, has Down Syndrome. This is a genetic condition in which the person has one extra chromosome than a “normal” person. This defect causes my sister to be able to learn, but at a slower pace than most.
Because of this, to any narrow-minded person, she would automatically be labeled different.
Unfortunately, many times this disorder also carries negative connotations such as slow, stupid and incapable of living without constant help. I can confidently say that Emily is brighter, smarter and more mature than many people I know who are labeled as normal.
In my opinion, the word “different” is used with a negative connotation, which ruins the real meaning of the word. Different means something is not the same as others. Normal is what everyone wants to be, but if everyone were the same, the world would be a very boring place. These words are used by people to give them the right to criticize or make fun of others.
After all, is anybody the same? The answer to that question given by anybody with a brain would be no. Let’s face it, the world is full of different people. Different is good.
I can’t stand to see a person bullying someone who is considered “different.”
No matter how a person looks, talks or behaves, he or she is still a human being. As other human beings, we have no right to decide how our peers should look, talk or behave, so we should embrace diversity.
As we get older, the differences in people grow. We start in kindergarten where every child is mostly the same. Then we move to middle school, where kids start to wear more of what they want to wear which expresses who they truly are.
Next, we get to high school where people really start to show their true colors.
In high school, we are most likely introduced to changes in a person’s behavior and life choices along with appearance.
Finally you get to college where almost every form of different is accounted for. To someone who has not accepted change and diversity, this is definitely a culture shock.
Diversity makes the world an interesting place. Differences in people help us to complement each other and achieve any goal we need to achieve.
If we all were the same, nothing would ever be completed because we would all have the same one skill.
Accept diversity. Be kind to people who are not the same as you. After all, you might need their help one day.
Jay Ballard is a freshman majoring in chemistry. He can be contacted at [email protected].