2010 Peace Essay Contest
Primary School Winning Entries
1st Place: Nathan McGhee, 1st gr., Kersey Creek Elementary School, Hanover Co.
Living in a World of DiversityIn America, we have lots of different people with different customs, beliefs, ideas, traditions and religions. We need to build respect and understanding for these differences. That will help everyone be happy, no one will fee left out and we can all work together to make our communities and our country even better!
So how can we do this? We can take time to study about other cultures so we can understand friends and make new friends from different places. For example, we can try new foods, look at new art or listen to new music. We can learn new games that come from other countries too. We can get to know people we are different. We can work together by choosing different people to work with when we have a group project. This will help us have different ideas that could help our project be the best. We can be kind to others. For example, we should not call people names about how they look, what they wear or how they act. We should always be tolerant and make people feel included or we might miss a chance to make a friend. We should not say things that would hurt other people's feelings.Sometimes, groups of people disagree or do not get along. When this happens, I can try to help. I could show that I am not afraid of differences. I could stand up for others if they are being bullied. I could ask the bully how he or she would like being treated that way. Or, I could tell a grown up if it is a real serious situation.
As a community or as a country we can help too. At school you could have classroom meetings where you discuss how to solve problems and everybody will have a chance to share their point of view. As a country, we can support our rules for free speech, freedom to choose religion and freedom to choose your own ideas.
As individuals, as a community and as a country, we will stay strong as long as we try to understand other people from other places. So remember to be tolerant, reach out to others and treat others the way you want to be treated.
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2nd Place: Parker Holland, gr. 2, Gayton ES (Henrico Co.)
Living in a Different Nation
This is an essay about living in a nation of different cultures, skin colors, and ethnic groups. I see sometimes that these people are not being treated fairly. If you do these things you should stop because these people are almost like you. I learned how to get people to be treated fairly from being a kid, going to school and from great leaders. I hope you enjoy reading.
Did you know that I have red hair? I sometimes get teased about it at school. It really hurts to get teased about it. I tell them to stop BUT they don't always listen. I learned to ignore them. When my friends are getting teased I go over and tell the person that is doing it to stop. I do this because I know how being teased feels. None of my friends tease me at all about my red hair. True friends don't tease people.
One time me and my friend Jack were talking. He was trying to get me interested in football. I kept on saying no because of all the injuries. But then Jack told me to look at it a different way. There was more to football like running, passing, and catching. I tried it out and liked it. It is now my favorite thing to play. If I hadn't looked at it a different way it would not be my favorite sport. If you don't talk to different people you might be missing out on a good friend.
I learned most of this in school from famous Americans that tried to stop something, like Martin Luther King Jr.. He was trying to get African Americans the same rights as white Americans. So I do the same thing but about a different topic. If you see someone being treated unfairly go over and tell the person that is doing it to STOP.
My basketball team was diverse. I had some people that looked like they were from China and some African Americans. I was glad that they were confident enough to play even though they might get teased by other players. I was glad they were confident enough to play because they were pretty good. There was this boy named Stephen on a team that was different from his team. I thought that he would be a good basketball player. He looked pretty confident. He had freckles all over his face. But he was very rough. I got a bruise on my knee from him. So sometimes different people aren't very nice or careful. So look out! Ask some different people if they want to play. The answer should tell you if they are nice or mean. Some different people are mean, some are nice. If you know that they are nice you might be able to get these different people to be treated fairly.
Another way I try to make different people be treated fairly is to learn about them. They might have some cool things to say. Like my friend Sanghwa He is from Korea. He told me about some interesting things. He showed me some Korean writing. It is some times fun to learn about people from different countries. If I hadn't talked to Sanghwa I wouldn't have learned these exciting things.
Now to wrap things up. The reason everything goes with the theme. Having different hair colors can get you teased some times. The reason I put that in is because if you tease someone and stop, you might be able to make friends with them. Looking at something a different way you might learn something cool about people. If you learn how famous Americans tried to change something if you do it the same way you might get different people to be treated fairly. Sometimes if you get a chance to know some different people you might be able to convince some other people that they are good friends to have. If more people did these things more people would get along. I hope you enjoyed reading this essay.
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3rd Place: Ruth Simmons, gr. 3, Rural Point ES (Hanover Co.)
Diversity
Hey, Mom! Wait? This is about diversity, not a fictional story. It's a non-fictional story. Diversity is when people are different. For example my friend named Georgia, her brother Chase is autistic. Two years ago at school there was a boy who had no arms but he was a great instrument player. That proves even if you are different you can be smart and talented.
Some ways you can fit in to a different country or help someone else fit in are: to understand that they are new and try to make fiends. You should learn their language and communicate with them or teach them yours. Ask the person if they would like to go out that day and help them earn your trust and friendship. If someone has a mechanical body part never laugh or make fun of them.
You should never exclude someone because of how they look. If you are white skinned and someone is dark do not let anyone make fun of them. I think all Americans should be treated fairly and we should all work and play together.
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Honorable Mention: Isaac Abel, gr. 3, Rural Point ES (Hanover Co.)
Diversity
Talk to the person that has a different background. Let them teach you their language, their music, their foods, and their clothing. Then you can teach them your language, your foods, your music, and your clothing. Maybe if you can find something you like. You might want to go where they live. IT's always good to communicate. Like if that person is Greek, for example, Ruby and she meets Shane who is Hawaiian they might meet and talk. Ruby might teach Shane her sports from her country and Shane might teach Ruby the games he plays in Hawaii. So if Mrs. Farnsworth is Russian and all the students and Mrs. Hines are American do you think their just going to sit around no knowing a word she is saying? No. They're going to learn even if they don't understand. Mrs. Hines knows every word she's saying and Mrs. Hines will translate the words in English to us. You know it might be a hard job for her but it's helping us. Mrs. Hines already has a hard job, and maybe after that at the end of the year, the entire class might be able to speak the Russian language. You know it's good to speak other languages. Everyone is human. You treat all people the same way you want to be treated.
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Honorable Mention: Sam Popp, gr. 3, Randolph ES (Goochland Co)
My Hope for World Peace
Some people are not getting along. The reason they are not very kind to each other is because they come from different cultures, religions, and ethnic groups. They think that other people's ways are weird because they are not used to them, and they don't understand them. For example, someone might see a person wearing strange clothes and talking in a language they don't understand. Once they do some research they may find out that the culture isn't weird at all and is actually very interesting.
As an individual, you can set an example for other people by learning about different cultures, religions and ethnic groups and not criticizing other people's ways. You should never talk behind their backs or tell jokes about them. If you hear someone saying something hurtful, you could say to them, "I bet they think your culture is strange too. Maybe if you learn more about them, you will actually think they are really interesting."
As a member of your community you could invite a person into your neighborhood, club, church, or school, and have them share their culture, religion, and food with you. You can then share your culture, religion and food with them.
Our community leaders should make sure that people are following the laws that keep them from discriminating against each other. Communities can host multi-cultural festivals where people can learn about other's ways.
Our country's leaders need to make sure the laws that stop people from discriminating are enforced. Our President and other leaders should have countries that are fighting because of different ethnic ways and religions, meet in a neutral place, and learn about each other. Once they understand each other, they will probably be nicer to each other.
If you, your community and the country can do these things and make up your own ways to help, maybe in a couple of years we can have world peace.
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Honorable Mention: Rowan Scarpino, gr. 3 Mary Munford ES (Richmond)
Living In a World of Diversity
We live in a country of all sorts of people with different beliefs, cultures, and skin colors, but how can we bring them together - and have them get along? Here are some ideas. I think we can bring people together by hearing each others music. I've always liked other countries an even other continents music. I think that hearing each others music is a good way to bring people together because the music from other civilizations is so different from our music, and it is really interesting. Music can also help us understand other cultures - or, a specific culture. We can also share music. All over the world people share each others music. Music is a great way to get people together!
Another way to get people from different areas of the world, and different backgrounds together is trying other cultures and civilizations food. Food for example I love food from all over. Also the food is so unlike the food the we eat. It might be exotic or it might be plain, and it is a great way to understand other civilizations and peoples climate and life style. And we need food to live, so,again, it's a great way to bring people together!
History is also a great way to understand other cultures, beliefs,and backgrounds. History is a great way to get to know people - so you can get along with them. If you learn other peoples backgrounds and history then you can get along with them and earn things like trust and friendship. It is a great way to get all sorts of people together! These are all great ways to get people in this country from different backgrounds, countries and beliefs and cultures to come together.
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Honorable Mention: Reese Tunstall, gr. 3, Rural Point ES (Hanover Co.)
Diversity
Diversity is very important to our life. We should treat people the way we want to be treated, like the Golden Rule! Say you're a new kid in a new school. You come in and you're nervous. People might look at your outside, like your hair, eye color and skin color. If you're handicapped, your age, size, mass, what foods you eat and your race. It doesn't matter about that.
It matters how you treat them! Yeah, they mgith look different. But that doesn't make thme a bad person. Play with them for two or three days. If they're nice, continue to play with them. We should all be treated equally!
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Honorable Mention: Jackson Watkins, gr. 3, Mary Munford ES (Richmond)
Living in a World of Diversity
There are a lot of people from all over the world that have come here to the United States. They all have different religions and skin colors. Why should people not like them? You should get along with people from different cultures and you shouldn't care about what other people think. Sports and music can help you understand other people's cultures. ln sports or music a lot of people come from different cultures or skin colors. If you play together on the same team or work together on a song you can become good friends. So, if you're on a team with people from different backgrounds, go and make friends with them.
If you learn history, you can realize what people from different cultures have done. Some people have helped to stop separating black skin from white like Martin Luther King Jr. Go and see what you can find out about history.
A good way to make friends with people from dissimilar backgrounds or skin color is by not thinking about their color or background. If you're at school with a person from a different color go see them and find ways that you're alike. Also, if they need some help go and help them out So, don't judge a person by their culture or skin-color and go and make friends with them!