Many people in the United States that have disabilities are bullied. It is a human reaction to be curious about people that are different than us. People with disabilities are often labeled as stupid or not useful just because of their appearance. We need to stop this in our schools. How can we change the minds and opinions of people who discriminate against people with physical disabilities in our schools?

There are people bullied everyday of their lives because of how they were born. Who are we to judge them? We are different to them, and they do not discriminate against us! A great example of a common disability is blindness. People discriminate against them because they are different. At www.livingblind.com, there are stories about people that are living their lives blind. One story that I read was about a mom wanting her children to be comfortable with her as their mom, even though she is blind. The mom in the story said, “I want my children to look up to me as their parent. I want them to think of me as a person who they can come to with problems, questions or advice. I want to be their teacher, mentor and most of all mom”...“So as a blind parent I have an additional and difficult job of making sure they remain confident in me as their mom.”

How could we discriminate against people that are blind, that are working just as hard as us to take care of their families and live like us? According to www.prweb.com, it says, “In high school, teenagers taunt the students who guide your child from class to class, calling them retarded or stupid. What would you do?” So this line proves that sometimes blind children in schools are bullied and parents do not know what to do about it.

Another example of a common disability is deafness. At www.nspcc.org, Peter tells a story of how he was bullied because of being deaf.

“The bullies would call me all kinds of hurtful names. They'd make out I was stupid because I was deaf. In primary school, sometimes, they'd kick me or hit me as well, and do actions like a stupid person and say that's what I was like. It wasn't just the kids, it was the adults too sometimes.” Peter is deaf. This was his experience in school in his own words. This proves that sometimes deaf people are discriminated against at school.

Another deaf student wrote, “I get frustrated when I'm deaf because whenever people are on my right, I don't what they are saying because that is the side I'm deaf on so I constantly have to tell my teachers and family and friends to go to my left side or I turn my left ear to my right and it's a very hard struggle. I recently got called Helen Keller. I laughed about it cause I didn't want to show my emotions but I cried and now people call me the black deaf chick every time I approach a crowd of friends and I'm sick of it. I can't help being deaf, I don't know anyone who goes through what I do everyday and I defiantly don't deserve it.”

No one should be treated like that mom, Peter, or the anonymous girl. Everyone is the same, with or without a disability.

Some children are both deaf and blind. This is called deaf-blindness. Helen Keller had this, but was not born this way. Keller was actually born with both sight and hearing, but unfortunately, in 1882, she got an illness called brain fever. www.biography.com says, “Within a few days after the fever broke, Keller’s mother noticed that her daughter didn’t show any reaction when the dinner bell rung, or when a hand was waved in front of her face. Keller had lost both her sight and hearing. She was just 19 months old.

As Keller grew into childhood, she developed a limited method of communication with her companion, Martha Washington. The two had created a type of sign language, and by the time Keller was 7, they had invented more than 60 signs to communicate with each other. But Keller had become very wild and unruly during this time. She would kick and scream when angry, and giggle uncontrollably when happy. She tormented Martha and inflicted raging tantrums on her parents. Many family relatives felt she should be institutionalized.

According to Helen Keller Rebellious Spirit by Laurie Lawlor, it says, “For once Helen was not an outsider. For once she had no need for a grown-up to translate for her. She could speak directly without worrying that someone would correct or sensor her conversation.” “What a joy to talk with other children in my own language!” she later wrote. “Until then I had been like a foreigner speaking through an interpreter.” This proves that sometimes people do feel like an outsider, ever through their disability, but can have a great time and make friends.

Helen Keller had more fame than discrimination, but that does not prove that others who have deaf-blindness are not discriminated against. Just because they look like they cannot learn as easily as us, they do have brains like everyone else and they are capable of learning like us, but cannot show it as easily.

Unfortunately, I see way too many people with physical disabilities discriminated against. A personal example is a boy I went to school with. He was a normal kid, except he was blind. I remember that he would always need a buddy for lunch and outside for recess. He had a box that would make loud or soft beeping sounds that he could hear. When you had the box next to you, he would hear the sounds and would be able to throw a ball to you so you could play catch. One day I was sitting outside for recess and his buddy set the box against the wall and left him. He did not know that she left him. I felt so bad, because she ditched him. Then I was his buddy because I did not want to leave him alone. I cannot imagine how selfish people could be, leaving him outside, alone. He is a human, like you and me, and never deserved to be treated like that. He should not be discriminated against because he is blind. I hope he is having a great time in middle school, because I no longer go to the same school as him.

How can we stop discrimination against people with disabilities in our schools? Www.ohchr.org says, “Raise awareness, understanding and recognition of disability as a human rights issue.” What I mean by this is that we can have a different type of inclusion day, and have a bake sale so we can raise money for children in our schools that have a disability, or the Children’s Hospital. Our inclusion day of disabilities can be about how we honestly treat them and see the wrongness in that. We can do activities with the kids in our schools that have a mental/physical disability and get to know them behind their appearance and illness.

As a school, we need to be the bigger person and stand up to those bullies and everyone who discriminate against them. Stop being a bystander. If you can make a difference, then go for it. Be yourself. Be positive. Every problem has a solution, but it is our choice to solve the problem and make a difference or not. Silence the violence, increase the peace.





















Works Cited
“Get Big Publicity with a PRWeb Press Release.” PRWeb Daily News. Web. 10 Feb.

2013.
“Helen Keller Biography.” Helen Keller Biography. A&E Networks Television. Web.

10 Feb. 2013.
“How We Make a Difference/” OHCHR News. Web. 10 Feb. 2013.
Lawlor, Laurie. Helen Keller: Rebellious Spirit. New York: Holiday House, 2001.

Print.
“Living Blind: Blindness Information, Resources and Fun Stuff Too.” Living Blind:

Stories about People Living Their Lives Blind. Web. 10 Feb. 2013.
“Nspcc.org – Nspcc.” Peter’s Story. Web. 10 Feb. 2013.