Paper Clips

I have seen this picture and it helps restore faith in human nature. It is a documentary about what started as an 8th grade project in a small town middle school,then developed a world wide appeal and the response was enormous. What made it more unusual is that there was not a single Jewish person living in this town.

The Principal, Vice Principal, teachers and parents learned as much as the students. And all of them seemed to learn that bigotry and hatred should have no place in a civilized society. And what starts as simply not knowing anything about a person, or if the person is different, such should not lead to stereotyping.

When the students met the Holocaust survivors, there was an immediate appreciation of life on the part of the children as well as their teachers and parents. The people in the film are real people, not actors. The location almost seems illogical, but the emotions are real and each viewer should bring a hankie.

This film should be part of every 8th grade curriculum.