Confessions: 'It was the first time in my life that I reacted to bullying'
Shimon is affected with albinism and it hasn’t always been easy, but he uses the struggles he’s faced to educate his students about life’s differences. He wants to lead by example and talk about the things that scare us. This is his story.
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00:00I'm Levkan.
00:03I remember the feeling of humiliation.
00:07I remember it was in the TET class when I moved to a new school.
00:11So the kids in the class thought it was really funny to push my butt against the wall in the middle of the exam.
00:20I also remember the anger that the kids got after they did it.
00:24It was the first time in my life that I had ever felt a sense of guilt and innocence.
00:28And from that moment, silence was born.
00:31They didn't laugh at me, but they didn't talk to me either.
00:34I'm Shimon, I'm 25 years old.
00:36I'm a kindergarten teacher.
00:38I live in Ramat Gan and I'm a Levkan.
00:45Levkanism is also my heritage,
00:48of a lack in the creation of a pigment called melanin,
00:52which affects the color of our hair, eyes and skin.
00:56The color of the eyes is the color of light.
00:59Levkans have a lack in the creation of this pigment,
01:03which is why my light color is white.
01:06My eyes twitch, it's called nystagmus,
01:09an uncontrolled twitching of the eye.
01:12My eye tries to get used to the contrast of light,
01:15and that's why they twitch.
01:18I don't feel it.
01:20When I see, I see a single picture.
01:23But if I focus on something,
01:26for example, on a table, a chair, a book, a phone,
01:29then after a while, it starts to get blurry.
01:41I chose to be a kindergarten teacher,
01:43first of all, out of great love for children,
01:45and understanding that they see reality in a very, very special way.
01:49They see reality as it is.
01:52They are very real.
01:54And also because I believe that the way to teach children about Shoni,
01:58to teach children about the other,
02:02is actually the personal example.
02:04In fact, the observation and showing them that it simply exists.
02:09Not just to explain,
02:11I don't think that lectures or deep explanations
02:15are what will cause a social change.
02:17But the fact that I exist.
02:20I believe that education was created and built
02:24to make us better people.
02:28And to teach us values and principles
02:32that will help us be better people.
02:35And more moral, and more caring for others,
02:38and for ourselves.
02:40And that's what I'm trying to teach the children in kindergarten.
02:43I think that young people need to understand
02:45that it's okay that you see Shoni and are surprised,
02:51but as soon as you talk about things and open them up,
02:54the problem is not so bad.
02:56So just talk, talk and ask, don't be embarrassed.
03:01I didn't feel any obligation to pass my principles
03:04in order to have friends.
03:06And I think it's something that I really, really want
03:09that young people will understand.
03:11You don't have to give up who you are in order to have friends.
03:12People who love you, will love you no matter what.
03:17The essence is that it will be you.