Back-to-School season is a good time to think about bullying. Children with disabilities are too often bullied. Their siblings may try to protect them from bullies, or may be the target of bullies themselves. Kid rapper and internet sensation Matty B released this video about bullying staring his younger sister, who has Down Syndrome.
SLN member and self-advocate Liz Weintraub wrote this piece about her experience with bullying:
Bullying can hurt, more than words can. Yes, when people called me the “R” word at the bus stop, or around school, it made me upset. The reason was because I never heard the “R’ word used when people talked about me. My family always said I had a learning disability. So when kids called me the “R” word, I got upset and ran to get my mom, so she could protect me. Yes, mom wasn’t my sibling, but she was my mom.
One day at the bus stop, a kid threw a firecracker near my eye. Obviously, it didn’t hurt my eye, because I am fine. But that was bullying.
Words do hurt and that can be more painful than falling down and scraping a knee. I don’t mind when I fall and hurt myself, but when people call me names and bully me, that’s when I get upset and want to cry. Maybe someday bullying will stop.
Recently, more people are paying attention to bullying in schools. Visit http://www.stopbullying.gov to find resources, and The R-Word Campaign to learn about efforts to stop hurtful language.
