RCL BLOG #7: Favorite Ted Talk

I chose a Ted talk called “The Psychological Impact of Child Separation at the US-Mexico Border”. Immigration is an issue that I am passionate about, and I thought that it would be interesting to hear what the speaker, Luis Zayas, had to say. He begins with talking about him growing up and his parents. This is a great way to start because he is talking about familial connections in his talk. I like this Ted talk because it is informative but also a call to action. He says that no matter what you believe; whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat, this should be an issue you care about. Zayas has had personal experiences with the children at the border and he talks deeply about two boys who left the biggest impact on him. He talks about a drawing that one boy, Danny makes that depicts the violence that the “rebels locos” inflicted on the people of his town. I think this was a smart choice because a drawing is usually an innocent activity that children partake in, yet for Danny; his drawings represent something much less innocent and much more dark. He goes from talking about the horrors he witnessed at the border to the medical argument of the talk. He explains how a child’s brain is weakened in an environment like the camps they live in. They are under extreme stress, and many have night terrors, depression, anxiety, a hopeless feeling and PTSD. He then asks what we should do to solve this? He lays out his points in an organized manner and establishes his credibility as a medical professional once again. Throughout the speech, he addresses the audience directly and this works well because it connects him to the listener and makes him points come through clearer. I enjoyed how he varied his voice and moved around the stage as he spoke. He took many pauses in order to make certain points stand out. For his ending, he qualified by saying “while we may differ in our opinions on immigration…” and followed with that we all must come together to protect children. This was a good way to end because it came off as less of an accusatory argument and more of a call to action for the betterment of the children’s lives.