Special Olympics President and CEO Timothy Shriver speaks to the audience at the Special Olympics Global Youth Summit in the Helix at Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland. [Photo by Tony Gavin, IRELAND OUT]
|
“Even though we speak the same language, sometimes we don’t understand each other.” This insight about the world’s interaction with people who have intellectual disabilities from a student from South Africa, and dozens like it from students around the world, ignited a lively and often passionate discussion at the 2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games Global Youth Forum at Dublin City University on 23 June.
The Forum discussion was taped by MTV, the music and entertainment television network, and the 38 students (pairs of students composed of a Special Olympics athlete and a non-disabled partner from 17 countries worldwide) voiced their opinions along with guests who included Special Olympics founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver, actors Colin Farrell and Kimberly Elise (who portrayed Special Olympics athlete and spokesperson Loretta Claiborne in the movie “The Loretta Claiborne Story”), singer and actress Samantha Mumba, Reverend Run (Joseph Simmons, formerly of the rap group Run DMC), U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige, journalist and author Maria Shriver and students from Loch Hill School, a local primary school in the Dublin area. Read selected quotes from guests at the Forum.
“Something has to change,” declared Special Olympics President and CEO Timothy Shriver in his opening remarks. “That’s why we are here. And the question is what are we going to do? How are we going to be the change?” Shriver challenged students and athletes to be a global think tank and find ways to change attitudes about people with intellectual disabilities around the world. For more than an hour, students tackled those questions. Suggestions and comments ranged from “instead of worrying about how you can find a friend, be a friend to someone” to “people must lose their fear of differences.”
The theme of the Forum was “Changing Attitudes – One at a Time (Starting with Yourself).” Global Youth Forum participants agreed that teasing and name-calling has to stop. Yibiao Guo, a partner from China, made a first-rate suggestion. “I will bring my experiences from Ireland back home to my school and community so that people will understand [about people with intellectual disabilities] and see them through my eyes,” he said. Jordan partner Sura Talal Gbazal said, “I will take Suzan [Special Olympics athlete] to meet my friends.”
Shriver revealed findings of the Multinational Study of Attitudes toward Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities commissioned by Special Olympics. “We live in a world that is troubled by the sickness of misunderstanding,” he said. “We have found that in too many countries people with an intellectual challenge are thought to be of lesser value than others, and that is a crisis and an injustice, and we have to change it.”
Kamna Prem, a student from India, wants to go back to her country and make presentations and have discussions about understanding. Wing-Hing Cheung, a student from Hong Kong, suggests that everyone should use their lives to affect others. A partner from Italy, Diego Santilli, thinks that the Special Olympics Get Into It™ service learning curriculum should be taught in schools everywhere.
Shriver exhorted students to take the power within them to create a voice for change. It is a daunting challenge for these fledgling leaders who want to expand their influence and change attitudes of the people in their countries — starting with themselves.
|
