Everyone is aware of the prejudices we face daily. there's racism, sexism, homophobia, social/wealth classification, etc. but today as I walked around my school, I noticed a different kind of hate that i had never really given much thought to in the past. I bet you haven't either. If you have, I must give you a lot of credit...what i'm talking about is discrimination towards the handicapped.

Today after lunch, A few of my friends and I went outside and walked around on the blacktop followed by many other kids. The same routine we do everyday. But on this day I noticed something different happening between some of the kids outside. A few of the more "popular" kids were surrounding this tiny girl. They were laughing at her, screaming insults in her face, making fun of the way she walked, and generally making fun of her the way kids sometimes do. I recognized the girl. She was a girl from one of the LD (learning disability) classes. I guess I should tell you that she has a walking disorder, some kind of growth defficiency, and is considered legally handicapped or snearingly called retarded by the majority of assholes at my oh-so-wonderful place of learning(as cruel as it may be).

As I watched...they would call her over..pretend to be friends with her...and then turn around and scream insults in her face about her disposition. Then they would call her over and act fakely friendly again. They completely messed with her head. Because of her disabilities, she was unable to comprehend that they were belittling and embarassing her in front of a number of people. She didn't understand that their intention was not to be friends, rather to hurt her feelings, so she fell for it everytime. I just sat there and thought...what kind of monster could do something like that? As if those people don't have it hard enough already. To make fun of someone less fortunate then you? I definately don't understand.

Well anyway, I think this girl finally got the message after they screamed things like, "I hate you! Get away from me you little freak!" for a while so she starts to walk away. As she walks away, one of the girls from the group steps in front of her and won't let her pass. I guess they hadn't had enough fun with her yet. They continued to scream insults at her and mock the way she walked until I decided to step into it. *yay!*

After I was through with them they didn't have a whole lot left to say, =D but that's besides the point. The fact is, there aren't always people willing to stand up to people in that situation and i'd just like to say THERE SHOULD BE. No one deserves to take that. it's no diferent then any other type of hate (i.e. racism) it's still discrimination against someone because they are different. So just think about it the next time you look at a handi-capped person differently or make some comment to your friends (i'm not saying you would...) and maybe (hopefully) next time you'll even be the one to help stand up against the bigots and fight for the rights of the mentally ill, becuase they deserve just as much as anyone else.
By Anonymous

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