Learning to live together: promoting tolerance and diversity in a globalised society

Babington Omotola
(Age 13, Nigeria)

Differences create the challenges in life that open the door to discoveries.

The world is a bag full of diversities. Diversity is more than just racial differences; it includes differences in language, interest, religion, dressing and so on. We are all different on the inside, just as we are on the outside.

Being able to see a situation from others point of view and getting along with people are the some of the necessary steps to create a harmonious society. The deepest need of the human heart is to be understood. Everyone wants to be respected and valued for who they are regardless of their nationality, their accents and their mode of dressing. There is a saying that ‘people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care’.

Using others physically or emotionally for our own selfish reasons, making others inferior to us or seeing life generally as a competition creates a never ending cycle of distrust, hurt and humiliation.

Some people are intimidated by differences. They enjoy ridiculing those who are different because of their insecurity. Insecurity makes people jealous and threatened by others success. They won’t hesitate to get physical about it if they have to and will often join gangs or cliques who feel the same way.

Others believe that everyone has a right to be different. They don’t shun diversity and they don’t embrace it either. Although they come close, they never get to synergy because they see differences as hurdles not as potential strength to build upon.
         
We should learn to celebrate and value differences, see them as an advantage, not as a weakness. Two people who think differently can achieve much more than two people who think alike.  Celebrating differences doesn’t necessarily mean that you agree with those differences, only that you value them.

It could be the lousy neighbor next door, it could be the beggar at the corner of your street, and it could also be the new girl at school. It could be you.

Synergy doesn’t just happen, it is a process and the foundation of getting there is by celebrating diversity. To attain the peak of synergy, you have to understand others first before sharing your ideas with them. We should listen to people sincerely without judging them or being selective of their words.

Racism is one of the world’s oldest problems. It becomes a problem when your group of friends becomes so exclusive that they begin to reject everyone who isn’t just like them.

To attain synergy, you have to;

• Listen to other’s point of view
• Be able to define there problem
• Providing possible solution
• Express yourself
• Reach a compromise