In the wake of everything that’s been happening around us, it’s good to take a step back and reflect on which side of history we want to be on. The Jian siblings, Rachel, Michael and Yehuda sat down and had a healthy and open debate about their values, how hard it is to stick to them nowadays, and what to do in the face of conflict.

The group mindfully reflected on erring on the side of peace, even if that means pulling yourself out of the situation you’re in and just leaving, and discussed how to build bridges, or create a connection that would lead to peace. They also talked about the process of finding relatable grounds or things you have in common with the other person in order to connect and find that peace.

Another issue discussed was racism. “Why does racism still exist?” is a question a lot of young people are grappling with today. Is it a lack of education? Is it hate? Is it a lack of sympathy and understanding?

Rachel reflected that it comes from not understanding the other side. It’s hard to understand something you know nothing about. Michael chimed in that education is essential to understanding other cultures and other perspectives.

Once they touched on the topic of education, Yehuda took the chance to dive deeper into the benefits of education: he said it helps people learn about each other and understand each other. Furthermore, it removes the aspect of fear. “When people are educated probably, they’re not gonna hate each other or be afraid.”

Rachel added that education is also important because it gives people a basic understanding of how life works and how to manage relationships. And they discussed the concept of education being more focused on things you can use in your day-to-day life, as opposed to general education that is standardized and missing the real-life elements.

They went on discussing the ways in which children are taught: memorizing from a book or copy-pasting from the Internet. “While that may be super helpful for their memory skills, it won’t be helpful if they’re ever in a creative environment.”

Last but not least, the kids discussed mass media and how it affects the way we think. They acknowledged that the media   can be a double edged sword. On one hand, it can teach us a plethora of skills, from cooking to coding, but on the other hand, it also creates a sense of hate to the other side and tends to polarize entire communities.

We’re posting this discussion because it’s a great insight of how the next generation of thinkers, students and youth are approaching the problems handed down to them. Watch the video and share your thoughts with us here on Facebook.