Yes, we are all different!
Those of you who know me will know that I am not tall, I’m not hunkie, I’m over weight, I wear glasses and worst of all I’m ginger! Of all the obvious differences between me and all of you, the one that everyone has always felt happy to point out to me, as though I was unaware, is the colour of my hair. Ginger hair unlike race, colour, ethnicity, religious beliefs or sexuality is not protected by any anti-discriminatory legislation.
I am often asked to visit schools to give talks to pupils around being different. I find this the easiest session to give to children of any age. We are all different, even when I attend a school that has identical twins they are able to tell me and the rest of the audience differences between them. For those of us who are not twins the differences are for more obvious for all to see. These differences between us should never be seen as bad things, in fact they should be embraced and encouraged. If we were all the same life would be very dull and uninteresting. Different people produce different ideas and help to move the world on in new directions. If you see people who look different or behave outside of the norm don’t assume the worst, consider the possibility for the best.
Professor Steven Hawkins lives his life in a wheel chair, he wears glasses and is unable to speak and yet he is acknowledged to have one of the finest minds in the world. On the other hand David Beckham is tall, good looking, charming and reckoned to be one of the greatest footballers of his time. It is obvious that these two men are very different in every way and yet both have risen to greatness in their own areas of expertise.
When I go into schools I feel that it is important to reinforce the fact that whilst these differences may be obvious to all of us it is no justification for passing judgement on the worth or importance of that individual. Everyone that I talk to is aware of the importance of recognising these differences and not discriminating against the obvious ones of race, disability, ethnicity etc. With this in mind I find frustrating that there are still many differences that are allowed to be ridiculed and mocked by individuals to your face and the media over the airwaves.
I know that many boys and girls, like I did still have to put up with the ginger gibes at school and throughout the rest of their life. When I had my first daughter I was told on many occasions how lucky I was. I was apparently lucky because she wasn’t ginger! I am now the luckiest man in the world as I have two beautiful daughters and a wife, none of whom are ginger!
There are one or two ginger people who I think that you might have heard of:
Chris Evans, Anne Robinson, Ron Weasley, Gordon Ramsey, Nicole Kidman, Geri Haliwell, Patsy Palmer, Lindsay Lohan, Cilla Black, Basil Brush, Winston Churchill, Mick Hucknall, Bonnie Langford, Gillian Anderson, Steve Davis, Catherine Tate, David Caruso and many more.
Those of you who know me will know that I am not tall, I’m not hunkie, I’m over weight, I wear glasses and worst of all I’m ginger! Of all the obvious differences between me and all of you, the one that everyone has always felt happy to point out to me, as though I was unaware, is the colour of my hair. Ginger hair unlike race, colour, ethnicity, religious beliefs or sexuality is not protected by any anti-discriminatory legislation.
I am often asked to visit schools to give talks to pupils around being different. I find this the easiest session to give to children of any age. We are all different, even when I attend a school that has identical twins they are able to tell me and the rest of the audience differences between them. For those of us who are not twins the differences are for more obvious for all to see. These differences between us should never be seen as bad things, in fact they should be embraced and encouraged. If we were all the same life would be very dull and uninteresting. Different people produce different ideas and help to move the world on in new directions. If you see people who look different or behave outside of the norm don’t assume the worst, consider the possibility for the best.
Professor Steven Hawkins lives his life in a wheel chair, he wears glasses and is unable to speak and yet he is acknowledged to have one of the finest minds in the world. On the other hand David Beckham is tall, good looking, charming and reckoned to be one of the greatest footballers of his time. It is obvious that these two men are very different in every way and yet both have risen to greatness in their own areas of expertise.
When I go into schools I feel that it is important to reinforce the fact that whilst these differences may be obvious to all of us it is no justification for passing judgement on the worth or importance of that individual. Everyone that I talk to is aware of the importance of recognising these differences and not discriminating against the obvious ones of race, disability, ethnicity etc. With this in mind I find frustrating that there are still many differences that are allowed to be ridiculed and mocked by individuals to your face and the media over the airwaves.
I know that many boys and girls, like I did still have to put up with the ginger gibes at school and throughout the rest of their life. When I had my first daughter I was told on many occasions how lucky I was. I was apparently lucky because she wasn’t ginger! I am now the luckiest man in the world as I have two beautiful daughters and a wife, none of whom are ginger!
There are one or two ginger people who I think that you might have heard of:
Chris Evans, Anne Robinson, Ron Weasley, Gordon Ramsey, Nicole Kidman, Geri Haliwell, Patsy Palmer, Lindsay Lohan, Cilla Black, Basil Brush, Winston Churchill, Mick Hucknall, Bonnie Langford, Gillian Anderson, Steve Davis, Catherine Tate, David Caruso and many more.