Sweere wins first place in national essay contest
Morgan Sweere, who just finished the sixth grade at Ruth Doyle Intermediate School, won the Teachers Against Prejudice in the Media Essay Contest. A total of 1,400 students in grades five through eight entered from the United States, Pakistan, Iran and Europe.
Sweere won first place in the middle school division with her essay about the Walt Disney movie, "Ruby Bridges."
She won a $200 savings bond. Sweere's essay answered the following question: There are many movies and television programs which demonstrate why it is important to value people for who they are rather than to judge them based solely on their race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender or disability. Other films and television program reinforce prejudice and stereotypes. Write an essay showing how, in your opinion, a specific movie or television program can be used at your school to raise awareness of prejudice and discrimination while teaching students to respect each other. Which movie or television program would you recommend? Why do you believe this movie or television program would impact the students who watch it? How do you think students might change their behavior, upon seeing this film or program, to be more accepting, appreciative and respectful of others? The following is Sweere's first place contest entry:
"Ruby Bridges"
"Why don't they like me?" This quote by the character Ruby Bridges in the movie titled by the same name is a question that most people who have been discriminated against, ask. Why don't people like them? It is usually because of their differences in race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender or a disability of some kind. People who are unsure of themselves discriminate against others.
The movie, "Ruby Bridges," is a story about a little girl in Louisiana. She is African American and is in first-grade. She is very smart. The NAACP talked to her mother and asked if she would be one of five students who scored high and would enter the all-white school in her city. Her mother, wanting something better for Ruby, said yes. This little girl went to school and was alienated from the start. She was schooled by herself until her teacher, a Caucasian lady from Boston, insisted that other children join them for at least part of the day. People called her names daily. They threatened to kill her. Ruby's father lost his job. Even the local grocery store refused to serve them because of Ruby going to the school. The movie is a Disney movie and is suitable for the family.
I think this movie would impact anyone who watched it because of the main character, Ruby. I was amazed at how the character Ruby reacted throughout the movie. This little girl was raised in a religious household. She was told daily to "pray for those that persecute you." She actually "walked the walk" and even prayed for her tormentors on the steps of the school as they were hurling insults at her. She knew love from her family and only wanted friends. Because of her smile and her forgiveness, people gradually came to accept her. Many of the students in her school were following in their parents' footsteps, but, because children are more accepting of others than adults, many of the children came to become her friends. Her lessons in the movie would teacher people who watched the movie to respond to hate with love. Not tolerating hate, but loving the person, and hating the act. She was a good example of this throughout the story.
Students would change their behavior upon seeing this movie. They would realize how each person discriminates against others in certain ways, some of them subtle. One thing that stood out to me in the movie was when the local grocery store owner told Ruby's father to stop coming to the store. The owner was Jewish and had been discriminated against herself. Ruby's family had been supportive of her when she had been discriminated against and were her first customers. She responded to the "society pressure" and asked him not to come to her store. I think this would make each person realize how pressure by others sometimes causes each person to act in ways they know is not right. Hopefully it would give them strength to make their own individual choices.