U.S. students rally to warn dangers of social isolation

SAN FRANCISCO, March 11 (Xinhua) -- More than 100 people including middle school students demonstrated Sunday in Oakland, a major U.S. West Coast port city, to speak out against the dangers of social isolation, organizers said.

Beyond Differences, a nonprofit organization established in 2010 to promote inclusiveness among students, organized the event.

Participants marched along a lake in downtown Oakland, the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, carrying signs that advocate diversity and inclusion.

"If #BeyondDifferences lives its mission, millions of young people will become the generation that completely transforms this nation," Lateefah Simon, who is on the Board of Directors of Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) public transportation system in the San Francisco Bay Area, told the rally.

Local media said the rally was staged to encourage middle school students to embrace their differences and help students who are socially isolated in schools.

The participating students were encouraged to interact during the Sunday event with people they didn't know, and learned to break through and be themselves. Enditem