This Wonderful Short Will Teach Your Children The Value Of Inclusion And Friendship

“Cuerdas” is a wonderful short that will teach our children the authentic value of friendship, respect and inclusion. Because no child is different if we approach them from the heart, because “special children” do not seek a cure for their limitations, what they need most is our acceptance.

If you have never seen this short we recommend it. Furthermore, we suggest that you see it with the smallest of the house, because their looks are more intuitive and they will react in a more sensitive way to this reality that we see in our school classrooms every day.

“Cuerdas” is a Spanish animated short film, written and directed by Pedro Solís García. He has won numerous awards and has been recognized around the world. It is worth seeing, and above all, feeling it . What we learn from these scarce 10 minutes will leave a permanent mark on our adult minds and those of our children.

A short about inclusion and friendship

If your children are already of school age, it is very possible that in their day-to-day lives they will interact with a child with special needs. The educational system favors the integration of these students in ordinary classrooms in certain subjects for later, taking them to the special classroom where they reinforce basic learning and thus individualize teaching so that children achieve the objectives of each cycle.

It should be said that yes, it is not always easy. The “different” always causes expectation and then indifference or worse, rejection.

The infantile world is even more complex, since not all children are prepared or have been educated to accept the different in physical aspect, in physical limitation, there where beyond the mere wrapping a child hides like any other, a mind and a heart in need of affection, acceptance, joys, games and complicities.

In this short we are going to discover an unforgettable girl, María, and a little boy with cerebral palsy who faces his first day of class. What happens next is a wonderful story reflected in almost 10 minutes, but in reality, it even extends to the maturity of Maria herself. That girl with the happy face and curious eyes.

Inclusion vs. Integration

In our day to day we are very used to hearing the word “integration”. We use it thinking that with this, we favor equal rights and opportunities before any disadvantaged group for whatever reason.

Now, it is necessary to go much further . We have to get used to talking about “Inclusion” because it is the best way for our children to understand what it is to grow in similarity, normalizing any person as part of our daily environments: schools, jobs …

Let’s look at some basic characteristics of what inclusion means:

• Society itself is the one that must adapt to reach all people with disabilities. Not the other way around, not forcing the child with special needs to fit into an environment to which he or she cannot even access.

• In an inclusive society, all of us, starting with the children themselves, are sensitive to any need of others. We strive not only to help but to make that person feel good about us. This is what our protagonist, María, does.

• The participation of excluded people is allowed and promoted for whatever reason to be part of our daily lives, and for this, there is no doubt in transforming the systems to provide them with quality.

• In an inclusive society we are all different and we are all people. Needs are met and normalized.

The story of Maria and the boy with cerebral palsy

We are in an orphanage. This is where the story of our two central characters unfolds: María and the little boy with cerebral palsy who comes to the classroom for the first time to be presented.

At first, Maria is not aware of the limitations of the new partner. However, when it is time for the patio, the personal reality of his friend is more than evident. Now, far from seeing any problem in the child’s condition, Maria manages in a marvelous way to give him life, to make him smile and make him dream.

Believe it or not,  this little girl is going to turn him into a pirate, play soccer with him, fly a kite and even dance with him. How? Through strings and the bond of affection, those strings that are anchored directly in the heart and that make the impossible possible.

We encourage you to watch the short and above all, to enjoy it with your children. When they have seen it, ask them what they felt and if they had done the same as this girl with a sincere, curious and affectionate look …