Bernie Tafoya reporting
(WBBM) —
At Schaumburg High School this afternoon, several teams of students will present their proposed campaigns to try to get fellow students to stop using the word “retarded” when talking about people with intellectual disabilities.
Nine teams of students in Jessica Wienke’s Leadership for Life class will present their proposed campaigns today before a dozen judges, including some from the Special Olympics.
The competition is part of the Special Olympics effort called “Spread the Word to End the Word”.
Special Olympian and Roosevelt University student Daniel Smrokowski recently talked with the Schaumburg High students and told them how hurtful the word “retarded” can be. He says, “There’s no need to use this word because all we do is smile and love”.
Smrokowski says he doesn’t remember being called the “r” word, as he puts it, but he says his parents have told him of times they heard others use it against him when he was younger.
Teacher Jessica Wienke says the proposed student campaigns are very creative, including one group that “is doing ‘respect, rejoice, rejuvenate’, anything but retarded”.
She says, “high school kids and lots of people, in general, throw around ‘that’s so retarded’, ‘that’s so gay’ without really any thought to how that might affect people. What (her students) really want to do is help people realize that that’s a slur”.
The winning campaign will be used in the weeks to come to try to change attitudes among the entire Schaumburg High School student body.
Read the original article from WBBM News Radio.
Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services