Teens sign pledge to avoid derogatory language
By Agnieszka Krawczynski

Students at St. Thomas More Collegiate are taking steps to make their community more welcoming for people with special needs and disabilities.

About 150 high school teens signed a pledge that they would never again use the “R-word” – retarded – during a weeklong campaign Nov. 22-25.

“It’s really degrading and that’s why you shouldn’t use it,” Grade 10 student Gladys Yu told The B.C. Catholic. She was part of a team of students running the campaign, called Spread the Word to End the Word, among her peers.

The school’s Justice and Life team wore blue Spread the Word to End the Word t-shirts and invited students to sign a pledge not to use the R-word. Any student that signed had a chance to trace their hand on a poster to publicly show their support of the campaign.

“It’s a very derogatory word to use,” said student Lauren Vossen. The issue hits home for her; she has a family member with a developmental disability.

“My cousin has Down Syndrome and it really hurts me when I hear people use that term on him. Honestly, he is the kindest person I know and he’s so talented in sports, music and school,” Vossen said.

“By calling him the R-word, they’re saying he’s not talented and he can’t do as much as I can do.”

Special Olympic athletes visited the school as special guests on the last day of the campaign.

“It helped us feel really involved and see what impact we’re making,” Yu said.

Vossen was also glad to meet them. “People got to see them participate in gym class, see their talents, and see that people who have disabilities are not neglected. They don’t have any setbacks to what they can do,” she said.

“We’re hoping when someone sees someone with a disability they don’t look at them any differently than they would look at someone else or themselves.”

David Mattiazzo, the school’s Director of Campus Ministry, first suggested the campaign in class and asked the students if they’d like to take it on.

The campaign “asks people to stop saying the R-word as a starting point toward creating more accepting attitudes and communities for all people,” he wrote in a newsletter to parents and staff.

Spread the Word to End the Word is a student-led campaign that was first created in the U.S. in 2009. It has the support of Special Olympics and Best Buddies International.