Category: the Rant Board
It's not often I can have a good rant like this. Those stupid, immature brats! All they say is: "Ooooh, look at her, she's blind! One of her eyes is smaller than the other, that's demented!" They think it's bloody funny, and I know I sound like a snotty wretch, but it's not! Stupid idiots just runnning around and laughing like a flock of hyenas, commenting on "her white stick" and "her weirdness." Well, I should tell them this. They. Are. Simple, and I don't find it amusing!
I've been around kids who are perfectly nice kids once they get to know you or learn about blindness. People where I used to work often brought their kids to work once in awhile, and since it was a rehab center, they encountered people with all types of disabilities. If their parents handled things right, and most of them did, they learned a lesson about the types of disabilities that are out there and learned not to make fun of people who are different than themselves. The trouble is the majority of kids in this country never encounter disabled people and are never taught how to act around them, and it's sad to say, but a lot of kids today can be very cruel. You hear about bullying every single day in the schools, and most of the kids they bully aren't handicapped. So of course, when they see a handicapped person, those kids who like to be bullies are going to make fun of you and be rude and even mean. I was walking to a bus stop one day and had several young boys following me and throwing their empty pop cans at me. I turned around real quick and struck out with my cane. I didn't hit any of them, but they got the message and ran away.
Yes. It's ridiculous, the way they stereotype, as if they think we're all the same. I was running to get to a lesson a few days ago, and as I was just making my way down the path, I heard someone scream "Look, it's that person with the stick! Pity they can't hear us." When I picked that up and yelled, "I am human, you know," they ran away. I don't know how old they are, probbly in their first year. But it's still not right the way some people treat disabled people.
How old are these kids? Teenagers?
Well I know you're one so you may hate me for this:
I'm of the opinion, and the wife confirmed it via professional experience, that teenagers are often an awful lot like preschoolers. Both good and bad. I think it's fun to watch them exploring, getting all they can out of life, trying new things, falling flat on their ass yes, but getting back up again. I think it's enjoyable to see them forming their own opinions, if often very idealistic ones. But they do exactly like the preschoolers, be embarrassed about your blindness, be embarrassed about us parents when they got friends over. Hell, they think Dad needs a hall pass just to get a damn beer when the friends are in the kitchen. Until, at least this dad, told 'em when they pay for the house they can decide who goes where.
I remember young chicks screaming eewww about my cane, or a guy stomping on it and bending it. What I did in response to the guy, I guess now they would call it the bullying or physical something long raggedy-as psychology stuff but it worked and felt good at the time.
I tell 'em when they get to be sixteen or so they're getting just a bit too big for acting that way, generally sets them to pouting and sulking for a bit but they recover.
If it wasn't your blindness, it'd be something else, because they're preschoolers with more rights and more abilities - physically, if not mentally.
Whatever you do, don't ever let them see it get under your skin. If you're going to react to something like them braking your cane or something, I can't really advise you do what I did, as you might get in trouble nowadays for it, but whatever you can get by with, do it with as little emotion and no whining or don't be a pansy about it. Whatever the girl version of a pansy is, I don't know and you'd thing I would after having raised a daughter but a lot of that stuff still eludes me.
You are technically right: they shouldn't do that, juyst like a four-year-old shouldn't be grabbing his neighbor's toy, but you can't exactly pick them up by the shirt, one swat to the ass, and sit them in a chair. High school is a lot of muddling through for most people. Just don't let them see you rattled.
Hope this helps you out some.
Yup, the more they see you angered, the more they'll insult you because they know what pushes your buttons.
The kids might not undertand what their doing or saying is wrong. I had this exact same issue when I started working for the Boys and Girls Club 3 years ago. The best way to handle this situation is to not get upset. Kids can pick up on your feelings really quick and that fuels them to keep going.
My problem was solved when I sat down with them and explained what they were doing was wrong, that it was a form of bullying. I also explained to them a little about my eye condition. I got through to them because they haven't said anything negative towards me since then.
Kids these days just need guidence. Their parent's don't always help them in that deparment. I try to give them guidence where it's needed.
Hey, Eleanor. My name is Sarah (we haven't talked before) and I'm at a university now, but when I was in high school I had similar experiences as yours. Fortunately for me, they were never quite that blunt. Sure, people referred to me as the "blind girl" in conversation when trying to explain who I was, but I'm not all that bothered by that since I'd probably do the same thing. Ocasionally some dumbass would trip on my cane and laugh their ass off, but honestly they were probably trying to diffuse the tension of having just tripped over the blind girl's stick. The worst that ever happened was when I wasn't using my cane (which was stupid on my part) I walked into the girl who was pretty much feared by all, and she slapped me and said, "Look where you're going, bitch!" Then she got a good look at me, realized I was blind, and ran away muttering, "Oh, shit," under her breath. She was incredibly nice to me every day after that though, funnily enough. Anyway, I say all of this because maybe I don't understand the level of bullying you're getting for your disability, and it truly sounds unfortunate, but what people are saying here all makes a lot of sense. You have to wear a thick skin, at least around people who are treating you like that. When you go home, or when you're alone, then you can let loose and rage about how stupid they're being, but in front of them, try to keep your cool. Maybe say something like, "Excuse me, but I'm blind, not deaf, and I'd appreciate if you'd stop talking about me like that as if I can't hear you." Even if it's more forceful than that, it still gets the point across that they shouldn't talk like that about you and that they should respect you. Stand up for yourself when it gets really bad. Try to ignore what they say, and just remember that they're ignorant of how it feels to be on your end of it. Educate them, but don't let them get to you. Stay strong. Kids grow up and act more mature later in life, I promise.