Tuesday, 05 June 2012
-
Texas School Yearbook Calls Kids “Retarded”
Guest post from Elizabeth at www.rockabyeparents.com
As society has changed so has our vocabulary. Eventually we wizen up and realize that certain terms that had been acceptable are actually cruel and should no longer be used. Of course such things never change overnight, and there are always those that continue to use the terms.“Retarded” is one such word. As an educator I cringe at even the thought of this word. Many years ago this word, taken from mental retardation, was used to refer to people who had disabilities. It was used during a time when we were farm more ignorant of such disabilities and it was used to refer to a person that had any type of one (since at the time specific ones weren’t classified). Eventually it became derogatory slang that was used to refer to people or things that the speaker thought was stupid.
As we advanced into the 90’s though, great strides were made with classifying disabilities. We started to see that someone with a disability wasn’t stupid or retarded. Instead we started to see that they had a learning disability, or a cognitive impairment, or Autism. As these distinctions started to be made we realized how hurtful the use of the word “retarded” was and slowly over time it because unacceptable and disappeared from our vocabularies (at least for most of us).
Fast forward to 2012, a Texas high school, Mesquite High, is compiling their yearbook. Someone has the idea to design a section that recognizes the kids in the school that have special needs. From there things go terribly wrong.
The other day when the student body received their yearbooks the section highlighting the special needs students was there. Part of the page said: ‘Some of the disabilities the students in the Special Education Program have are being blind, deaf or non-verbal…(students’ names) are both blind, deaf as well as mentally retarded.’
Not surprisingly this passage sent the community into an uproar. Such language is in no way acceptable and many felt that the section did nothing more than point fingers and single out the students with special needs. The big question though is how did such wording manage to be approved and sent to the printers? A teacher should have overseen the whole process, and it is shocking that they allowed it.
My guess is that the student who thought up the section was just trying to show that the students with special needs are an important part of the school. Had the page been tastefully done, with politically correct language, then that message might have come across.
To correct the mistake the school has demanded that all students turn their yearbooks back in so that the mistake can be fixed. The principal has also said that he will personally call and apologize to the families of the students that were named on the page.
Read the entire article HERE.
What would your reaction be if you saw such a section in your child's yearbook?
RecommendRelated Posts
Post a Comment
- Back to momaroo's Momaroo Site!
- Note: your comment will appear in momaroo's local time zone: GMT -05:00 (Eastern Standard - US, Canada)
Comments (57)
Reading this reminded me strongly of another blog I read at Autistable a while ago: http://www.autisable.com/759736961/when-the-r-word-means-something-to-you/
I feel it is a word that hurts some feelings, maybe unrightfully so? I think the school went a little overboard in their reaction, confiscating and reprinting the yearbooks was an expensive undertaking - I'd like to know where that money came from?
I was mislead by this blog. That may have been in my own reading, but from this I assumed that the yearbooks were confiscated due to the use of the word "retarded."
They were confiscated because those in charged failed to get all of the release forms signed to print the pictures of the students featured.
Not due to the verbiage.
"Politically correct language"... *FACEPALM*
Retard
verb (used with object) to make slow; delay the development or progress of (an action, process, etc.); hinder or impede.
verb (used without object) to be delayed.
noun a slowing down, diminution, or hindrance, as in a machine.
The reason it is an insult is because a person of average intelligence doesn't want to be compared to people who struggle to wipe their own asses or who can't understand basic math. It doesn't matter what the fuck you call them. "Developmentally delayed" is now being thrown around as an insult, as will anything else you choose to call such people.
Hasn't the use of the word retarded been debated enough? Yes, its technical definition makes it the correct word to use; yes, its misuse has turned it into a word that offends some people. Is there really anything more to discuss?
Mental retardation is a classification in the DSM. When not used in a derogatory manner, it's just a term. Someone with an IQ below a certain level is mentally retarded. An LD is a discrepancy between achievement and intellectual ability, and MR is a separate diagnosis. It is fine to say that someone with such and such an IQ is profoundly retarded if that's just a fact...
This yearbook seems to be using the term "retarded" appropriately. It's not some student writing, "Billy is retarded because he could never get to class on time," or something like that. I don't know why the yearbook broadcast the students' academic challenges next to their names...That seems like the real/root of the problem to begin with...
I wouldn't want someone to say, "The weather is so bipolar," but I'm not going to get upset when someone says "Kevin was diagnosed with bipolar disorder two years ago." I would never want something to say, "Kevin is bipolar," beneath his picture in the yearbook, though...If that helps to explain the difference...
I'd say what I think of this article, but that wouldn't be "politically correct"
... That is an accurate usage of the word. I see no issue with that.
Shouldn't it be called mentally challenged? Thats what I call people who are like that... One time at school my "friend" said "Wow, this year there are so many retards in this school!".. I wanted to hit her so hard right there, I didnt.. I restrainted myself and told her not to say things like that..
I can't see how "mentally challenged" is a better alternative. It's just a different spin of the same thing.
The term was used appropriately. I would not have freaked out about this if this were in my child's yearbook.
I'm more okay calling an autistic kid "mentally retarded" to his face or referencing him as such in his mother's presence than this yearbook oversight.
As individuals, we don't have to be personally correct. The freedom to lace our words with as much acid, contempt, or informality as we choose is a matter of free speech and self-expression.
The yearbook, however, has a duty to the school as a whole. As an official publication the work has a responsbility to be be respectful, sensitive, and professional. Being deragotry in this fashion (intentional or not) flies in the face of all of this.
It would be just as bad if the yearbook accurately referenced a Chinese-American kid as "chink" or a self-identifying gay kid as "faggot."
This looks just fine to me.
GOD im so sick of people over reacting to STUPID SHIT.
The word was not used inappropriately. Just because you don't like to hear that your child is mentally retarded, doesn't mean it isn't true. Its no more or less insulting than any other way you could describe it because IT ALL MEANS THE SAME THING.
I really don't see the problem. Whatever they said would have offended someone. What else were they supposed to put?! People are way too easily offended these days.
...But they weren't using it as slang. I have a disabled uncle. I have always heard his disability referred to as "mentally retarded".
I don't actually see the problem here.I don't think there's anything wrong with calling an apple an apple. I've met a lot of retards, and they'll live. They're usually really happy people anyway. It's a type of person, almost like a personality.
.@VampireOfSeduction@xanga - I take it it's a massive insult to retards as well. They don't want to be like you guys and complicated, boring, verbose, and with too much education. Not all retards struggle with wipping their ass or basic math. One managed to learn algebra and a foreign language. Think of them like children because that's exactly how they behave. It's like an eternal 8 year old.
I have worked with adults and children with disabilities since I was a sophomore in high school. And what I have come to learn is people are not their disabilities and illnesses, it is only an aspect of who they are. By labeling someone in that way, they may feel that is the only thing you see them as.
I learned to use person-first language, which allows us to put the person before their disability.
A person with autism, for instance, is how I would refer to someone "autistic."
If I'd been the reporter, I probably would have written something like, "The Special Education Department helps students with hearing, visual, and speech impairments, as well as other disabilities."
Although when I designed and photographed my high school yearbook, simply showing pictures of the students and staff in the special ed department sufficed. O.o
If a person has mental retardation, it may be apropriate to say they HAVE mental retardation. But often this term is used incorrectly. A person with autism, for instance, does not have mental retardation! Autism and mental retardation are two very different conditions.
It was well intentioned so does it really matter?
i'm not really surprised that this is coming from texas, to be honest.
I wouldn't reprint. I'd just rip the page out. Of course then the girls lacrosse team on the other side would have something to say about it.
@Colorsofthenight@xanga - I certainly wasn't trying to imply that they're all barely functioning. My mom works with people who have varying levels of disability. Some of them really can't clean themselves, and some can't walk or talk or feed themselves, but there is also one woman that I didn't initially realize she even was MRDD because she functions at a higher level (however you say that), and I went to school with a kid who was also "high functioning".
Children aren't worried about political correctness... Maybe we should pull the sticks out of our own asses and focus on things that matter more..?
@thisisryanross@xanga - hmmm..so you're from Tx, because I am. Just wondering where you got your diatribe?
@Kris0logy@xanga i'm not from texas, lol. i'm not attacking anyone.