"R-word" awareness actitivities are scheduled nation-wide to "Spread the Word to End the Word", a campaign to stop the use of the word "retard". The "R Word" and stigmatizing references to people with intellectual disaiblities recently made headlines with President Obama's remarks on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno". View a clip of his comment: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vE0yAEvVsUo (various clips are available).
Through “Spread the Word to End the Word,” an on-line youth rally Live stream will occur at www.schooltube.com, 12:35 PM Eastern Time. R-word Pledge Rallies will take place at
American University, Beirut, lebanon; all high schools in state of Delaware; school in the Fort Worth Independent School District, Texas; at the University of Kansas, Western Michigan University, University of Nebraska, Lincoln; Princeton University, and Slippery Rock University, Pennsylvania, just to name a few. Visit http://www.specialolympics.org/03-31-09_Spread_the_Word.aspx.
25 comments:
I think this is going to be a huge rally. This campaing may actually let people know that using that word is offensive and cruel.I hope this campaing reaches many people across our nation and hopefully the world so that many people may stop using that word. When I hear that word used in movies I just think to myself that the director ran out of good stuff to put in his/her movie and had to put some words in it to make the movie suck.
-Francisco N.-
The "R" word should be removed from one's vocabulary because this word is abused and in improperly and rudely used. For many years this word was thought of as being a good form of describing a person with a mental or learning disability. Now, though, our generation has expanded its use of vocabulary and word terms and i don't think the "R" word needs or should be included. I hope there s a rally near by where i live because i really want to go to help end the word. I hope that there is a stop to the usage of the "R" word and it becomes excluded from people's everyday vocabulary. Priscilla F.
I imagine this being a huge success and more than likely going to get a huge turn out of viewers and participants. It seems like its going to be all over the nation, and I hope and pray that it will end well and increase understanding that this word is extremely inappropriate. We are a country trying to treat people fairly and without any prejudice. We are all different yet at the same time we all have our freedom. The use of the "R" word has been going on since I can remember and I don't like it and think we should just delete it from our vocabulary. This word is not one that describes those who have intellectual disabilities, they are people who just learn at a different pace or may need a little more help than others but definitely not as they say "retard." We should all become conscious and aware of these actions and other words that cause discrimination.
Victoria G.
Some people that use the "r" word might not really think about what they are actually implying. I think that this rally will really open up people's eyes so that they can think about what they are saying before they say it. People need to wake up and stand up for those who need us the most. By using the "r" word, we literally take like ten steps backward even though we say that we are fighting for equality of ALL people. If we really want change, we need to start with ourselves.
Mariel G.
I think the rally will be affective and actually make an impact. The word is very offensive and people use it for anything now and even toward disabled people which is cruel. The rallies will actually open people's eyes about people with disabilities and the pain the word causes when used.
Gerardo G.
Wow I can really see why there are rallies. The "R-ward" is an overused word. I don't think it is an appropriate word to use for any reason even if it is used as a play around word like "Thats retarded" I think it is just wrong it puts people down. I know I was once called the R-word for some little misunderstanding I had, after that it was hard for me to get my self-esteem back up. Thats my opinion I just don't like that word. I hope the rallies succeed.
Joana J.
I do agree with everyone, people should stop using words like the "R" word, , there are words that people uses that they should not be using not just the "R" word i think the rally will help open peoples eyes.
Anthonia. F.
I think this rally is a great move to remove the word retard. People seem to use this certain word for cruel reasons and is inapporiate. I must admit I would use this word, but since I started taking a class on disabilites; I have stopped using the "R" word. I hope this rally makes a differnce, so people can stop using the "R" word.
Vanessa G.
Well i agree, the word is offensive and it shouldn't be used to discribe a person with a disability! There are many words that are considered offensive, some ralate to race, skin color, and as of the "R" word to a disability. I know this rally will not make people stop saying the word, but hopefully it opens there eyes and lets them know how uncomfortable it makes people with mental disabilities.
-SMJ3-
I agree, the r-word is a very offensive remark. It should not even be used for patients who have a mental illness. They should come up with a new word or phrase for the illness. I am surprise that obama said what he said. I know that the sad part is that it is a very common thing to say and people say it without the slightest idea that it is hurtful. No one should say it and hopefully this rally will help makes things better.
^Cristopher A.^
it is great that the community is doing these sorts of things to inform people that the use of the r-word is wrong. people should be educated to respect and know correct terminology so many people won't be hurt. I think its a great idea, and i look forward to spread the word myself to seek an end of it.
Janet S.
Its about time that we realize that words such as "R" can be cruel ,but not only that inappropriate. Lets stop being selfish and think of how this word can be hurful to a person with a mental disability.
Elizabeth M.
When I saw the clip of Pres. Obama's remark about the special olympics, I was a little shocked. The thing is, stuff like this is said all too often. I don't even think he realized what he had said until it was pointed out to him and I'm sure he didn't mean it in the wrong way, but, he also doesn't understand what it feels like to PWD to hear that, especially from our President.
Nancy C.
about what President Obama said about special olimpics, I do not think we should judge him that hard. I understand that the disability world has been trying to end such prejudices and the use of inapropriate language when refering to PWD. But at the end we are a sociaty that was raise like that and I dont think President Obama meant hurting people. I am sure he did not think of it as something bad. yes it is sad to hear it from someone like our president but at the end that is the way society is right now and the only thing we can do is try to educate people as much as we can.
Grace R.
I hope this rally was a success. The whole world needs to be educated on the proper way to speak. I have never in my life used that word myself because I've always thought it sounded ugly, and I've never liked to hear people calling other people the "R-Word" just because they thought it was funny. Now that I'm more educated about the correct terms and the incorrect terms I try to correct people I hear using that word.
-Berta J.
Wow, this is really exciting because the youth is standing up for people with disabilities and this is just so great! I hope they do a wonderful job is spreading the word to stop the r-word forever. I still cannot believe what the president said at the Jay Leno show. It is just really disappointing and saddening to me as a democrat. I really hope those people do a great job in their rally.
JudithW
I really like this idea of tying to spread the word to end the word “retarded” because many people use this word ignoring its real meaning and mainly ignoring the fact that when they use to refer to a person they may offend someone either an actual person with a cognitive or intellectual disability, or maybe a person that has a family member who has one of these disabilities. And we all know how it feels when someone talks about us or a family member, especially, when they are insulting comments. Esly B.
I think this rally to spread the word about the 'r word' is going to affect many people. Some people dont know how harmful using that word is. Yes many people do use that word in a joking way, but they dont know the true concept behind it. So this rally will be of great benefit towards many people.
Sarah O.
I agree with everyone, the word "R" should stop, I think that this rally is a good move to remove this word. Letting others know how much cruelty and pain this word causes will hopefully open the eyes of those who say it and will encourage them to stop.
DaphneJ.
I agree that the word "R" is not appropriate and that its offensive and cruel. This is good information that is going to be usefull to pass on to people that are not still aware of what is the approprite word. ROCIO D
I think the word "r" should be removed from our vocabulary because it is rude and offensive. many people use the word without even knowing what it means and tend to hurt others.
jeannette O
I think this is great it starts by one person at a time and I hope we succeed.
Krystal R.
This rally should definately be made to stop such a cruel and hurtful word. I've heard many times how this word is misused everywhere. If there was a rally around here to stop this horrible word, I would definately be present.
Anel C.
This is a good rally to end with this rude and offensive word. This had even gotten to the movies where our children and younger generations see. What are we teaching our children with this? We should all make an effort to stop to this word.
Evelyn A.
Ending the "r-word" campaign is a great way to help promote the ending of a word that people have change its meaning to. A word that now is used repediatly to offend someone. It should also be a model campaign for many other words that are used commonly to offend or put a person down, and that at one point, they were innoncent words usually do describe a condidition or person without hurting the person. All in all, people just need to stop being so rude, learn some manners, and be mature.
-Sergio M.
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