LaredoBuzz.Com

Courtesy Steve Helm

AUSTIN, TX – Special Olympics Texas (SOTX) encourages all Texans to stop using the words “retard” and “retarded”.  Wednesday, March 2 is the eighth national Spread the Word to End the Word® activation and awareness day, and all are invited and encouraged to take the pledge against the ‘R-word’.

Spread the Word to End the Word® is an on-going effort to raise the consciousness of society about the dehumanizing and hurtful effects of the word “retard(ed)” and encourage people to pledge to stop using the R-word. The campaign is intended to get schools, communities and organizations to rally and pledge their support to help create communities of inclusion and acceptance for all people.

 In a recent survey conducted by Nielsen, 38 percent of the participants claimed that it’s OK to call a friend the “R-word”, while 56 percent believe it is permissible to call oneself the term. Despite feeling entitled to use the term, 92 percent of the people surveyed admit that the “R-word” is offensive.

 Over the last few years on this day, many schools have demonstrated a true commitment to taking the pledge by creating events and videos to “Spread the Word to End the Word” across their campus and through social media platforms.

 Primary and secondary students in many schools across Texas have planned activities to encourage their classmates to stop using the ‘R-word’, including AJ Briesemeister Middle School in Sequin. They will be holding an expo throughout the day to promote tolerance, diversity and acceptance. Students and adults will rotate through four stations, each lasting 10 minutes. The stations include a diversity panel (made up of community members of different ethnic backgrounds), a non-verbal exercise in identity, a mural of one (each participant will choose the color they identify with to represent their piece of the mural) and a lip syncing area to create songs with positive messages to share.

 For Spread the Word to End the Word® videos, visit http://bit.ly/1AXfgkt