"dress like a disabled person" - Outrage
This is a hard one.. I think the school meant well and wanted the kids to be aware of the difficulties of being disabled... Did they go about it the right way ?? I honestly don't know !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ramco Primary School in South Australia sent a newsletter home to parents telling them it was hosting a "disability day" on May 29 to raise money for a children's clinic in Bangladesh.
But eyebrows were raised when it emerged that the school was offering prizes for the "best students dressed as a person with a disability".
The newsletter said: "There will be prizes for the best students dressed as a person with a disability. Get your thinking hats on and see what disability you can represent!"
While parents were bemused by the letter, with many wondering how they were supposed to dress their child for the day, disability groups condemned the event.
David Holst, a disability advocate, said the dress-up day was in poor taste and there were better ways to create awareness among children about the lives of the disabled.
"You can understand it's with good intent, but it is trivialising some serious issues and is the worst in poor judgement and poor taste," he told the Adelaide Advertiser.
"There are numerous agencies and associations that have regular contact (with schools) ... that could involve them in a much more positive way."
Barrey Niven, the school's headmaster, said the event had been intended to help pupils understand what it is like to live with a disability. But he acknowledged that the newsletter had been badly worded.
Mr Niven said the school had wanted to press on with the event, but too many people had complained that it was offensive and it was eventually cancelled.
Instead, children will come to school dressed in bright colours or make badges with smiley faces.
Source: The Telegraph
with my omg comments in plus size thread, i thought then that you were a sensitive person,your above comments shows otherwise.
btw i rather be called skinny beeeyatch.
expect nothing, do more, love lots, smile often, cry sometimes but continue living....
Yes Alexa, you are correct, he is walking around the house drooling and and making sounds as practise for when he goes to the paralympic center where he volunteers in the swimming group every 2 weeks.
The dynamics are simple arent they? We are a heartless bunch of bastards from your view, so be it. I do believe that even in light of poking a little fun at an inevitable situation does not construe a complete lack of compassion or respect. I do believe a few people on here have ridiculed things others take very seriously but as per their own standards feel that is fine n'est pas? Shall we all draw our lines based on your principal?
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"Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock - Will Rogers"
Calm down Alexa, he is a kid and goofing off in the house. He does indeed have a great deal of respect for disabilities, he has 4 uncles who have major disabilities and a Grandfather in a wheelchair.
The horse is quite high this evening is it not? _____________________________________________________
"Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock - Will Rogers"
Hmmm, seems like there are a few here who might benefit from spending a day with a disability, or spending some time caring for a disabled person.
Insensitive :-(
Some disabilities can be solved by medications like viagra! can the kids dress for that part too? before and after the medication. With a tent after....
LOL, Oryx forget grade school, we had a guy in our Systems Admin class in Uni who used to 'pick' things off his body and eat them. Imagine the fun you could have with something like that?
My son is still walking around the house in spastic movements slapping himself in the face, he thinks the whole idea is great and now wishes his school would do something like this.
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"Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock - Will Rogers"
If we had been asked to do this at school Amoud we would have done what you just described....
believe me we were far from PC at 10
there was one girl with curly curly hair and to mimic a maths experiment i tipped pencil sharpenings into her hair.
Then i kept a graph on my desk to keep a track of how many days they stayed in there.....
hideous brats that we were....
Here we go, out of the mouth of babes. I just asked my 12 year old if he had to dress up as a disability for a day he responded by saying he would dress up as someone mentally challenged (sorry if anyone takes offense to this, I am merely repeating word for word).... I asked him to show me how he would act and believe me, you dont want to see this as a representation of a disability.
Perhaps if this was a bit more structured like Brits time in a wheelchair... giving a bunch of kids carte blanche may not have been the most PC way to go with this.
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"Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock - Will Rogers"
Oryx, good idea! When we were boarding houseparents, Sardines was a our saturday afternoon choice game. They would eagerly run off and hide in wardrobes staying put for hours hoping to win the prize. Sadly they caught on after a while and while we were happily relaxing in the staff room they staged a coup(spelling?)and raided the kitchen sweet cupboard! Served us right I guess.
Well the song about disabled people my class sung in primary school comes to mind
"I don't want to grow up, I'm a handicapped kid,
I was playing with the chainsaw and look what I did!"
(Song is complete by waving around your arm stuff up your sleeve).
Quadruple post... that's gotta be a record.
You're right, yes. The word 'disabled' is quite broad, and leaves plenty of scope for interpretation.
The more I read the statement "best students dressed as a person with a disability" the more it amuses me.
If it were me, I'd go dressed as a pirate, complete with a peg leg, eye patch and a shiny hook.
No.....:P
Gypsy are you trying to prove that you are disable by posting 4 times?...lol
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HE WHO DARES WINS
Jeez.
Bugger
Crap
I'm sure they are, but it's not worded that way fubar. And you can't just tell kids to "dress like a disabled person" and hope for the best.
I think Gypsy they are referring to people who are physically disabled - missing a limb, the ability to walk, or blind etc, rather than people who are developmentally disabled - such as spasticity.
Bringing in a disabled person to talk about disability might work, or the kids, depending on their age, might just sit their an snicker at the funny man wearing dark glasses who goes everywhere with a dog.
I think the school got it wrong. they should have consulted the Parents beforehand.
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HE WHO DARES WINS
There's a difference between bringing in wheelchairs and other aids to make kids realize what it would be like to be disabled. But an open invitation to "dress like a disabled person"? Again, what does a disabled person wear that's so different from the rest of the world? It's just asking for trouble.
Its all about intention and perceptions. I agree that it may be taken wrongly.
As I said, at school, we had a day where we went around in wheel chairs to understand the difficulties a disabled person may face.
I remember one kid, strapped on "cricket pads" to get a feel of trying to walk with a bad leg..
OK , not great, but it served its purpose.
I don't think this is a case of PC gone to far at all. I mean, seriously, how does a disabled person dress any differently then anyone else? All I can picuture is a bunch of kids running around acting spastic and I can't see how that helps the disabled, unless it's to make them more self conscious.
OMG, what an absurd idea! The intention was good but still it's an offense for the disabled. Either you are or you are not disabled, by pretending a disability for a day you won't learn anything because you know that at the end of the day you stand up and walk. We can never understand what it means to be disabled unless we become disabled ourselves.
Maybe the teacher should have just gagged all the little blighters and said 'you are all mute for the day'
peaceful day for teachers and children have the 'learning experience'.
I remember at school years ago, we were asked to experience a few hours in a wheel chair (Mobility , acess, getting in and out etc).
It worked quite well. I agree though that it has to be handled properly..
"dressed like a disabled person" is offensive to the disabled.
There are other ways to raise awareness, like bringing-in some actually disabled people.
Agree with you.. It would been a good opportunity for the children to "experience" or "explore" these issues..
It seems the PC brigade thought otherwise..
"David Holst, a disability advocate, said ... there were better ways to create awareness among children about the lives of the disabled."
Such as?
"Instead, children will come to school dressed in bright colours or make badges with smiley faces."????
What a wasted opportunity for children to learn about the lives of the disabled. Instead we get a media beat up and some concocted 'outrage' by a media hungry 'advocate'.
The intention was good just the idea was bad.
I'm sure no harm was meant. Someone just wasn't thinking.
I was a gifted child till started attending school lol
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This is a potential learning experience gone wrong.
In one of my psych courses in college, we had to choose a disability and experience it for one day. (Disable a hand or limb, be blind or deaf, etc).
I taped my eyes shut to experience blindness and it was a VERY scary experience, especially when I went to a mall with a friend.
Seems this is what the school in the story was trying to accomplish but missed their mark.
Well you've got to say that only Australian would think like that.