Her name is Ace, and she just doesn't understand. People think her brother Archie is different. But Archie isn't different to Ace. He's just another little kid.
But to the rest of the world, Archie is a kid who was orphaned in his native Bulgaria because he had down syndrome. He was adopted by an American family, and along with Ace he's star of a video that I -- a jaded old mom blogger who has seen thousands of viral videos over the years -- can't get out of my head. Just watch!
Watching these two adorable siblings this morning on a friend's Facebook page, I couldn't help seeing my 6-year-old on the playground in the back of my mind. I always marvel when I take her out there. I watch her walk up to kids who are perfect strangers. They exchange names, and suddenly, they're friends, ready to take on the world. At this age, kids are just kids. There is no color. No gender. There are no "problems."
And then they go to school. And they meet kids who weren't raised by parents like me (and my husband), parents who don't teach their kids the everyone is equal and everyone deserves respect and everyone has value. Someone tells them different is bad ... and we wonder why we have bullies and wars and division in America?
We wouldn't. Not if kids stayed like Ace. Not if we still walked up to strangers on the playground and said "hey, you are cool, I am cool, let's be friends." Not if everyone believed like Ace does ... that kids like Archie are "just like any other kid." They aren't different. They just are.
What have you told your kids about kids who are "different"?
Image via eicherumba/YouTube
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Comments 28
Wow, I am astonished by some of the comments made about this video!!! Uncomfortable??? Really?? This is exactly why there are stereotypes, because people are uncomfortable!! The message was simple and clear. Being a parent of a child with Down Syndrome, I can sure as hell tell you, that we are not trying to ignore the fact that our children were born with an extra chromosome. We embrace that extra chromosome everyday!! I want the world to see my daughter how her family views her. That we all are different, but sometimes a great life lesson might be embracing those differences. You might just learn something in the process. We all want acceptance and love. We all have dreams and aspirations. Our diffrences don't define us....I think they are suppose to make us more compassionate, and understanding people.
My nephew has down syndrome. He has a little sister who does not have down syndrome. I pray that these two have a relationship like the siblings in the video. That being said, the video was definitely rehearsed, but I doubt that the little girl has any differing opinions than what she was told to say. At that age, kids really are kids. When my nephew was born, a lot of people in the family kept talking about all of the things he could never do, which is HORRIBLE. You just can't measure a child's potential, no matter the circumstances.
The people saying "wah wah, down syndrome kids ARE different wah wah." Well, duh, they ARE different, but that doesn't mean they should be TREATED differently!!!!!
@Disney17, Down's kids have obvious facial differences ONLY, WE ARE ALL DIFFERENT. THAT is what people need to STOP pretending.
~just say'n :)
Being the mom of 2 young men with developmental disABILITIES. I've got to comment.
I'm shocked at the ignorance in some of the comments. EVERYONE on this earth has difficulties (disABILITIES), doing something, whether it's learning, walking, talking, speaking, hearing, etc... For instance, since cell phones and texting have become so popular I've noticed alot of people can NOT text & walk. They have a difficult time at doing this, do they have a disABILITY? I happen to be one of the people who can do this without difficulty. I do NOT make fun of others who can't do it. I do NOT look at them as different. Down's is an obvious difference ONLY because of the facial features and in most cases Down's kids don't talk until later, however a lot of Down's kids sign when they have something to say. Most "normal" kids can NOT sign and can NOT learn to sign at that age because they can speak, so does that mean the "NORMAL" kids have disABILITIES and should be looked at differently? Don't think so.
In my opinion, what society needs to realize is EVERYONE is different & NO ONE is PERFECT. EVERYONE learns in different ways. If they'd stop the "higher than thou" attitudes and take the time to understand others who may appear different, then we wouldn't see comments like some of these. I've always been a believer in this fact. People are afraid of things they do NOT understand, so people take the time to understand.
Kids are born innocent/ignorant to any prejudices in life. It's up to the parents to start at an early age to STOP THE IGNORANCE!!!!
As far as the video, it was cute & yes I believe it could've been done a bit differently, such as showing the interaction between the two kids with the captions only. The point would've been clearly made.
This was very sweet. Really moved me.