I’ve spent a lot of time working with kids in various capacities. As a summer camp leader, volunteer coach, and participant in community initiatives such as teaching kids to read, I’ve noticed that children understand more than we often give them credit for. They grasp various issues plaguing our world, such as conflict, climate change, and intolerance. While they might not understand the finer points, they certainly grasp the basic perspectives.
In our recent project, we worked with grade 4/5 children to teach them the importance of tolerance. Our final product was a picture book depicting inclusion, tolerance, or the negative consequences of intolerance. Early in the project, we met with the children to gauge their knowledge and perspectives on current and historical cases of intolerance. It was interesting to see how they grouped massive historical cases of extreme intolerance, such as segregation and the Holocaust, with more personal events like being excluded from playing tag. My biggest takeaway was the importance of a personalized story in helping kids connect with and understand the message.
Creating this story was challenging. I came up with countless ideas and tried various methods of illustration. Initially, I focused on stories about inclusion in sports and accepting diverse lifestyles. However, I eventually chose a topic close to my heart: conservation. My story emphasized the importance of working with people from diverse backgrounds and perspectives to conserve natural places and resources.
Through my parents’ work, interviews with professionals in fields I’m interested in, and my time outdoors, I’ve observed various issues with our conservation methods. Everyone seems to think they know best—whether it’s scientists, farmers, businesses, government, or Indigenous nations. No one seems willing to combine their ideas and find compromises. I believe that by sharing knowledge and strategies, and finding common ground, we can save our planet.
This project also allowed me to practice using AI to showcase my ideas. I used a platform called Storyspark.ai to generate illustrations and refine the story into a cohesive 25-page book. This experience showed me how AI can help overcome weaknesses and highlight strengths in my work. Going forward, I will explore more ways to use AI to enhance my projects.
At the start of the project, we studied one of the largest historical examples of intolerance: Nazi Germany. We watched testimonies from the Stephen Spielberg Foundation, visited the Vancouver Holocaust Museum, and read firsthand accounts of the Holocaust’s effects on Jewish identity. These studies, revisited over the past three years, challenged me to understand how intolerance spread so quickly. We discussed similar examples of modern intolerance spreading on platforms like Instagram and TikTok, noting parallels between attitudes toward minorities in 1920s/1930s Germany and today’s Canada and the US.
We explored the question, “How is storytelling an effective weapon against hate?” by watching a documentary about Mr. Rogers, who spread messages of tolerance and acceptance. This impact is evident in recent events like the BLM protests, where personal stories from Black Canadians and Americans were powerful. The BC First Peoples (BCFP) course I took last year reinforced this point through stories and testimonies from Indigenous peoples about their experiences during colonization and in residential schools. Storytelling is an effective weapon against hate because it humanizes minorities and victims, allowing the audience to see them as individuals rather than statistics. Most people don’t want to harm others; connecting with victims of intolerance can help reduce hate and intolerance both in Canada and globally.