Category: the Rant Board
I think there is only one thing that I TRULY hate, and that is when people pick on others who are at a disadvantage to them. It makes me horribly mad because individuals with a mental disability, or any other disability, aren't disabled. The disabled people are those who are so unstable around them that they can't do anything but be unkind to them. I'm askind, if you agree with me, that the next time you hear someone say, "That's so retarded!" you step up to the plate and say something...because it isn't right...and we're all one.
I absolutely agree its childish ignorant small minded and usually the result of fear and insecurity, at least that's thats usually the excuse in Scotland,people hide their discomfort behind abuse to make the person feel small.this in turn improves the abuser's pitfully low level of self esteem.
amen to both of y'all.
cheers and the same to yourself..smile
We're not all one, person is in some way different. However, saying "that's retarded" is a figure of speech. People with visual impairments, and other disabilities bully others for no reason, and if a person has a mental disability, they're probably more likely depending what it is to cause problems for others, so to point the finger entirely at able-bodied people is ignorent, and general.
In most cases the most serious abuse is carried out by non disabled people on disabled people,it's a well known and accepted fact, that if you have a disabilty no matter how minor, you are 10 times more likely to be assaulted, verbally abused, raped or mugged, than a non disabled person, simply because its a damn sight easier...
Some people are bothered by difference. In their minds, not only should we be one, but we should be nearly identical. If you see difference, you must terrorize or be violent to the different person in the hopes that your acts will transform that person into something more to your particular liking, or just go away so you are not subjected to their difference, since you feel you have a right never to be inconvenienced, annoyed, or bothered, and nobody should ever be better than you, especially if you decide they're not worthy of it.
I experienced many times how nondisabled people or people who can see better than me abused me or other disabled people and I hate it. Sometimes I wish they experienced one day where they were blind - just so that they know what it feels like.
Goblin is right, people go for easier targets, but that applies to diwsabled people as well as none-disabled people There are less disabled people around than none-disabled, so it is obviously more likely that able-boddied individuals will bully disabled people. I think about difference that the likelyhood of someone being picked on about them being different depends on the extent on their differences.
Yep, I think the difference has to be fairly obvious I would suppose. You get picked on if you are too short or too fat or things like that, too. I can only guess on why people do this and waht they get out of this. So I wonder, as a blind person, who is lower than I am in the pecking order. Who can I get away with bullying? LOL!
Lol, poor me then. I'm too short, too fat and blind. Hm.
It's alright, Inesle, I'm short, chubby, blind, and a Hispanic (or Latina or whatever they call it) who can barely speak Spanish. *grins*
Leilani
Well all people have different views on different people. We are not one I agree on that. We are different, god made us to be different. Otherwise the world be in chaos with nothing but disabled people. Don't get upset at it. Here's a example: One day sis and some friends were hanging outside for gym class and the Special Ed Bus came and well the others thought that those students on that bus were retards. True to a sense some of them might (can't make a assumption I never attended that school. But was on that bus because of my disability.) have mental retardation. What happens? One guy calls out "Look guys the retard bus just pulled in!" Sis took offense to it and said "Hey my sister isn't retarded but has a visual disability, she had no choice but to go on that bus, they (the state) made her go on it. You had no right calling them that." In the student's eyes he refered to retard as a way of acknowledging that there were handicap students on that bus, he never made it to sound rude. You can't take everything that comes out of a person's mouth true. You never know if that person was just making a acknowledgement in a different way or not. Don't get all upset over something, and you cannot protect every single person in the special ed department thats just asking for problems. Let staff and the student's parents handle the situation and you handle yourself. Because you could've made a situation go from bad to worse. And besides that student who made that remark about the bus? He explained why he said it and was more polite to the studeents so don't blow things out of porportion.
PS I too was short at 4 feet something if I can remember. I'm now 5'4 and a quarter a big difference but my growth spirt didn't come overnight, it came in small spirts over a period of 6 years and expensive treatments to help me grow. Between the start of treatments and the end of treatments I was picked on for my height. It got to the point where I told my counslor at the school that they do it to get a reaction out of me and I'll ignore it. It stopped after some employees caught these people tormenting another student. But I never had other students shield me.
It all comes down to nature. In the wild the weaker and disabled animals are outcast by the stronger ones to ensure survival of the fittest. If a lion gives birth to three cubs and one of them has a disability, she will often kill it to ensure that her two stronger cubs have all the food in order to ensure a greater chance of survival. If an animal is injured the other animals will usually dessert it because the injured animal only holds back the rest of them. As humans, we have developed the intelligence to know that weaker and more defenceless humans are able to play an active part in society, however the prime instinct to outcast the weaker ones has still survived and still surfaces in some instances.
As for the expression "that's retarded" I use it from time to time meaning "there's something majorly wrong with this" and I see nothing wrong with using that expression. People often say "oh your phone is over there, are you blind or something" or "why am I so blind" meaning, why didn't I discover that, I don't take those phrases offensively and people sometimes get embarressed when they realize they've used them around me but I use them myself. Retarded may be a bit more contensious but I don't use it around people who are, for a lack of a better word "retarded". I actually invariably shared a room with one of the mentally handicapped guys when competing on big swim meets and we got along famously (whatever that says about me I don't know <grin> but at least I've already graduated with 2 bs degrees so I can't be that retarded .. either that or the education system in general is retarded, I don't know). Those are just lovely people and it's actually a lot of fun hanging out with them. And I'm sure we've all picked on someone at one time or another for something, those of you who never have please step up and tell us. All we can do is try to be a good example, considerate and loving and hope the world will take note of that.
cheers
-B
Labyrinth you are absolutely right ...and as to what the bully gets out of it..hmm a small surge of self esteem and a temporary distraction from the lack of it...
yeah, but it's the way you use the word "retarded". I mean if you said that's retarded while talking about something that is wrong or messed up I guess it would be ok. But if you used the word on a mentally disabled person in a bad way then that would be...bad? LOL. and yeah I hear that fraze 'are you blind?" a lot. I also hear "are you blond?" Which doesn't have anything todo with this topic. But anyway, I still think that it's hard to ignore bullies if they're using really bad insults against you or one of your friends, or even someone you don't know. And i still want to know what they want meaning they have a good chance of getting caught, so do they _want to be caught while trying to get a rise out of someone? (this is really mixed up but oh well) I'll stop now. :)