t Girl Who Silenced the World | open thinking
Skip to content
Jun 4 2008 / Alec

Girl Who Silenced the World

The title on this Youtube video reads “the girl who silenced the world for 5 minutes”. This is Severin Suzuki, daughter of David Suzuki, speaking to the United Nations at the age of 13 in 1992 on behalf of ECO (Environmental Children’s Organization). This is a wonderful speech, spoken beautifully, emotionally, and truthfully.

This is worth the six minutes to watch, and so much more. Pass it on to your colleagues and your students.

Related posts:

  1. A Conversation With Severn Cullis-Suzuki
  2. The Connection Between Anonymity and Nastiness in the Online World
  3. How Does the (US) News Shape the Way We See the World
  4. I’m A Mac, And So Is My Little Girl
  5. Power of the Positive

8 Comments

leave a comment
  1. Diana Kenney / Jun 4 2008

    Alec,
    Thank you! I am truly inspired and plan on sharing this as often as I can.

    Diana

  2. Irma / Jun 5 2008

    Alec

    Let you thing a little.. I will share it with the kids and teachers at school.
    Thanks
    Irma

  3. Diane Hammond / Jun 5 2008

    “Did you have to worry of these things when you were my age?”

    This concerns me. I’m hearing fear and helplessness in students’ voices – in the classroom and in their blogs. We are doing so much to make students aware of society’s problems, but are we crippling them with anxiety? How many of our dis-engaged youth are asking themselves – so, what’s the point? I think we need to use examples like this one to empower students, to show them that every single voice can count – that individual actions on a grand scale will bring about positive change. Thanks for sharing this!

  4. Rob Wall / Jun 5 2008

    Powerful.

  5. Kari / Jun 6 2008

    Alec, thanks for sharing this video… the part when she said “We are afraid to share” sure makes you think…I think it’s important for both students, and adults to watch this video.

  6. LangLabCindy / Jun 6 2008

    Interesting and powerful. I love the line about us being a “family, 5 million strong.” And I wonder what she is doing today…spent just a few minutes googling, but didn’t find anything.

  7. Richard Schwier / Jun 11 2008

    I remember the first time I saw this like it was yesterday. Strong message, and I loved that her parents made the kids earn their own $$ to go to the conference. Her dad has been an inspiration for decades, and Severin is the apple that didn’t fall far from the tree. She came to Saskatoon this spring–a mature woman now, and still delivering a powerful message of activism and hope. Thanks, Alec.

  8. Sherie Stark / Jun 21 2008

    I also am deeply inspired by her words, and want to spread the video as much as possible to help inspire others. I was thinking about putting it on my Facebook account, but the agreement says it has to be my work because of copyright issues. Does anyone know if this is OK if I get David Suzuki’s permission?

Leave a Comment

Punchcut Theme by The Theme Foundry