Spread the Word to End the Word Campaign

As a disclaimer, I'll just get this out of the way: this post may be perceived as offensive if the reader does not understand entirely my opinion and view on the Spread the Word Campaign. Do your best to understand where I am coming from.

I'd like to preface this post by first saying that I, in no way, think that those with special needs are to be seen as less than others. I feel that they should most definitely be treated with respect, along with everyone else. I have profound respect and admiration for those that work with special needs students and adults as well. I, myself, considered doing this in Gahanna's MD class during my study hall this year. After much deliberation, I decided I was not cut out for the job and the responsibility and patience it entails. These people, both those with special needs, their families, and their aides have my utmost respect and they truly are amazing people. Having been raised to always stand up for anyone being picked on or bullied and to always root for the underdog, I must also say that I am and always will be the first to help someone in a bullying situation. That is who I am, yet I just do not think that I have the immense amount of patience and compassion necessary for work with the special needs and those with disabilities. Again, I will reiterate: these people have a very special place in my heart and I will always hold them with much respect.

However, the Spread the Word to End the Word Campaign is something that infuriates me to my very core. Today was a very difficult day for me to make through, as the halls were cluttered with people donning the shirts saying, "Don't Dis My Ability." Of course, this slogan is well-intended as is the entire campaign. The problem that I saw simply was that it is doing nothing more than labeling these students for exactly what they are trying to deflect attention from. "Dis" and "ability" were the same size, color, and font on these shirts, making the reader first notice that a special needs child was wearing a shirt that very clearly spelled out, "disability." This not only draws attention to the disabled child, but draws attention specifically to their disability itself. It's as if every gay person, for example, one day were to wear a shirt that creatively spells out "fag" or "queer". Pardon my possible insensitivity here, but what does that slogan accomplish other than highlighting the very subject that they are wishing to suppress?

Another very popular and important part of this campaign are the very moving and powerful PSAs of all of our wonderful MD students explaining how it feels to be called "retarded". This of course is a massive tearjerker and would cause almost any person to stop and think about the things they say every day. Great. Again, there is nothing wrong with asking for a bit more (well deserved) respect. Although, it was brought to my attention by a very close friend of mine, whose sister has special needs, that those "tearjerkers" are not always what they seem. Many of the special needs students do not have the cognitive ability to understand what that word means as an insult unless they are explained very carefully. The students in those videos were spoon-fed moving phrases and were, in a sense, pressured into being offended. This got me thinking to say the least. How scared were those kids when they were taken into an unfamiliar situation and asked how unfamiliar words and phrases made them feel? How many tears in these videos are actually from being hurt by the word?

My third issue is a very simple one and has been a focus of many debates outside of the special needs world. The campaign is a war on a word. Granted, this word carries much social stigma and possibly hurtful feelings, but nevertheless is simply a word. The war to quell free speech is an age-old and hard fought battle. How effective can a campaign against a word actually be? Will it stop at a teacher asking a student to watch what they say? Or in other cases will it end in suspension? One student this week tweets, "Who tells the retarded kids that they're retarded?" I will not support this statement at all, and frankly I think it's pretty insensitive and very untactful in its phrasing. Yet, this student was suspended. A war on a word has gone outside the classroom, into the realm of social media, and, like many other things, has resulted in a "zero tolerance policy." Let me pose the question: what sense does a zero tolerance policy make in an effort to promote tolerance? It's illogical at best, however that is an issue less with the campaign itself and more with the education system (a system with many other obvious flaws).

The many good intents of this campaign are sadly strongly outweighed by the lack of tact and compassion that it so blatantly and excruciatingly portrays nationally, in the form of terrible slogans, etc. On a local standpoint, Gahanna could not be more generally supportive of our special needs programs and that in itself is beautiful and moving. I think that we all genuinely care about these kids, and I've only had to stand up to a few people in my four years at the high school. I am proud to admit that we are a very good school when it comes to doing the right thing and loving our neighbor, regardless of sexual preference, skin color, religion, or level of physical or mental ability. To my fellow GLHS students, I say nothing more than to keep up the good work.

In saying that, I think that we, as a school, need to take a hard look at the campaigns that we support and how exactly we support them. I have always supported this campaign, admittedly blindly, because I thought that it was doing great things in our school and community. I now realize that it is not quite how it seems. I have a shirt from every year of this campaign since freshman year, and I have worn them with pride. However, I will not be buying a shirt this year for obvious reasons.

As far as the intentions of this campaign are concerned, one thing is for sure: respect is deserved and should be shown by all people. Campaigning against a word will not make anyone more respectful than they already are, and that is very sad. Yet, I have faith that our school and the many students like myself who have respect for themselves and others will be willing to stand up and help our fellow classmates. We do, undoubtedly, need to respect these very strong individuals, as well as their families and those amazing people in the MD classrooms every day. I simply do not think that the Spread the Word to End the Word campaign does an adequate job of that.

I hope that my opinion goes over well, as I do not mean any disrespect or malicious intent. Thank you for reading.