Sports

Students Pledge to Stop Using the R-Word

Campaign focuses on ending use of the words retard and retarded.

Jaq Buchanan was proudly wearing a ribbon he won for placing fourth in a 50-meter race during a Special Olympics swim meet on Wednesday morning at . Now, he was searching for a T-shirt souvenir from the event.

Looking over the shirts, Buchanan chose one that was emblazoned with, "Respect — R-Word — be a fan,” the shirt said. An integral part of the swim meet — and a focus for students at the school — was the emphasis on pledging to end the use of another R-word: retard(ed).

The Spread the Word to End the Word campaign is tied to the Special Olympics. Neuqua students, teachers, competitors and visitors to the high school were encouraged to commit to stop using the word.  March 2 was the day set aside to promote the campaign; more than 170,000 people nationwide pledged to stop using the word.

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Buchanan said he hopes when his classmates see him wearing his shirt, “they are inspired by my strength and encouraged by who I am. And know that there is more than one way to win.”

Elaine Brewer, a teacher at Oswego High School, said she was buying one of the T-shirts because she hoped that wearing it would raise awareness and make students recognize the impact of using the word.

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Joy Pierson Nebergall, ’s Special Olympics coordinator and an Adaptive PE teacher at Neuqua, said 15 agencies had sent swimmers to the event, including participants 8 and older.

The swim meet was a qualifier for the state competition that will be held in June, she said. There were a total of 113 races and the top finishers qualified for state competition.

Along with the competitors there were about 75 peer partners and 45 P.E. leaders who volunteered to assist with the event.

Ishita Walia, 16 and a junior at the high school, was one of the peer partners helping out. She and her friends were asking people to sign posters pledging to stop using the R-word, she said. The goal is to get respect, because using the word hurts people, she said.

Despite being posted in the upper reaches of the natatorium, the girls filled several posters with signatures and were handing out pins, lanyards and bracelets to those who pledged to Spread the Word to End the Word.

More students than teachers had signed up, Walia and her peer partner friends said.

Kayla Lee, a 16-year-old junior, was a peer partner volunteering with Walia.

“They (students) know how much it means to respect and not use the word,” Lee said.

According to Spread the Word to End the Word it is an ongoing effort of the Special Olympics, Best Buddies International and their supporters to raise peoples’ consciousness about the “dehumanizing and hurtful effects of the word 'retard(ed)' and encourage people to pledge to stop using the R-word.”

Jordan Schuvert, a student and Special Olympics athlete who was helping out at the event, said it was a success. Students were signing up in the cafeteria as well as at the event.

“It’s great to hear,” he said. “It means ... whether people use the word intentionally or not, people are taking a stand not to use it.”


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