Best buddies raises awareness of r-word
By Eva Goldfarb
Members of the Best Buddies club have taken it upon themselves to advertise and celebrate the R-word day. As a part of the International movement to turn people’s backs to the word retard or retarded, Best Buddies members decided to get the word out everyday the week of March 3, which is the official R-word day.
“We only had one commercial last year so we decided to expand it this year,” senior Best Buddies president Jessie Laurin said. “We put up fliers, announcements and did the shirts.”
To end the week with something memorable, there were announcements advertising that everyone wear their shirts backwards on March 5.
(Photo Nick Panyard)
“Overall I saw pretty good support,” Laurin said. “The aim was to show respect for all people and some people surprised me. I noticed several backwards shirts walking through the hallways and have gotten encouraging feedback.”
Support did not just come from students. Many teachers also wore their shirts backwards to symbolize their ‘turning their back on the R-word’. Several teachers were spotted with backwards hoodies, shirts or even a button-down and tie like Laurin’s english teacher Tony Armstrong.
“Jessie Laurin is a student of mine and I know she is living the reason why organizations such as Best Buddies want to do things like this,” Armstrong said. “She is a dear and I just wanted to show her my support.”
Many students use the R-word without thinking of its meaning or who they may hurt by using it. The R-word week was an effort to raise awareness of the R-word’s impact.
“Members of the best buddies are offended by the word ‘retard,’” Laurin said, “People don’t think of it as mean but its definitely degrading a minority of people. The commercials were to encourage people not to say it and to pay attention to what you say—you never know who’s listening.”
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