Grace Patterson a winner in Ontario-wide Speakers Idol competition

Written by Jillian Follert (Port Perry Star)

DURHAM — A Durham student’s thoughts on free speech — and whether it should have limitations — have landed her provincial recognition. 

Grace Patterson, a Grade 8 student at Cartwright Central P.S. in Blackstock, was recently named the elementary school winner in this year’s Ontario-wide Speaker’s Idol competition.

The contest, presented by Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies, challenged students in grades 6 to 12 to write a three-minute speech that incorporates the Wiesenthal quote “freedom of speech is not freedom to propagate hatred.”

More than 200 speeches were entered.

Grace, 13, says she started off by researching current events around free speech, including a September 2017 white supremacist rally in Peterborough.

“This made me more aware … I didn’t even know about some of these things going on,” she says.

Her speech examines whether free speech should have limitations, when it comes to spreading hate and intolerance.

“I find that some people misuse the concept of freedom of speech and there are examples all around us,” her speech notes. “Is what we hear about others, what we would want to hear about ourselves? Even if we disagree with what we hear, do those opinions lift others up or tear them down? Using these questions as our ‘filter’ before making a statement, we can be assured that we are making the most of our right to free speech.”

Grace says she was surprised to learn she had been named one of the top 10 finalists in this year’s competition and was excited — but “so nervous”  — to present her speech to a panel of judges at the Toronto Centre for the Arts on March 27.

She says winning first place in the elementary division of the competition proves to her that kids can make a difference.

“You hear that one person can change the world. OK. But how? Just entering this competition, so many people were able to hear my speech,” Grace says. “By doing this, I can maybe change someone’s opinion.”

This was the seventh year for Speaker’s Idol, which honours the legacy of Wiesenthal, a Holocaust survivor and human rights activist.

The Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies is a nonprofit human rights organization committed to countering racism and anti-Semitism, guided by the Wiesenthal quote, “freedom is not a gift from heaven. One must fight for it every day.”

Aqeela Ameen Majeed, a student at Lincoln Avenue P.S. in Ajax, was also one of the 10 finalists in this year’s Speakers Idol competition.