I am disgusted and sickened by the language used by many students in high school. On my bus ride home, I overheard a conversation between four freshmen guys about how difficult a project was in their class. They said it was "retarded" multiple times and that the project was so "gay".
First I will address the use of the word "retarded". Merriam-Webster Online defines the word as "slow or limited in intellectual or emotional development or academic progress". First of all, when people most often use this word today, they're not even using it properly. The word doesn't mean stupid, it means slow in progress. An example of this use is in music. When there is a retard in the pace, it means that the tempo gets slower.
I used to not find this word as offensive as I do now. About six months ago, I met and began working with a young boy. He has the cutest most innocent smile and eyes that sparkle like nobody else's. He also has epilepsy and a mental disorder that prevents him from talking. He moves clumsily and I have been told that he has trouble understanding what people say. Whenever someone says something is "retarded" when they mean something is stupid, I think of him. I think of how thoughtless they are being. People never use this word as a compliment; it is always considered to be an insult. People use this word to sound cool or because they don't think that it should insult anyone. But, please, before you use that word again, think of all of the people you are in fact insulting. Think of those who don't have the ability to defend themselves. Think of this child. The child who never in his life ever hurt anyone but gets hurt by people on a daily basis. Think of this before you throw around such a misused word.
First I will address the use of the word "retarded". Merriam-Webster Online defines the word as "slow or limited in intellectual or emotional development or academic progress". First of all, when people most often use this word today, they're not even using it properly. The word doesn't mean stupid, it means slow in progress. An example of this use is in music. When there is a retard in the pace, it means that the tempo gets slower.
I used to not find this word as offensive as I do now. About six months ago, I met and began working with a young boy. He has the cutest most innocent smile and eyes that sparkle like nobody else's. He also has epilepsy and a mental disorder that prevents him from talking. He moves clumsily and I have been told that he has trouble understanding what people say. Whenever someone says something is "retarded" when they mean something is stupid, I think of him. I think of how thoughtless they are being. People never use this word as a compliment; it is always considered to be an insult. People use this word to sound cool or because they don't think that it should insult anyone. But, please, before you use that word again, think of all of the people you are in fact insulting. Think of those who don't have the ability to defend themselves. Think of this child. The child who never in his life ever hurt anyone but gets hurt by people on a daily basis. Think of this before you throw around such a misused word.
Now on to the word "gay". Give me a break from the excuse of "but I don't mean it like that, I mean it like silly or stupid". Sure...could you remind me when this term began to be used as "silly" again? Yes, the word gay used to mean happy or lighthearted. However, meanings of words change over time, especially this word. Now whenever a person calls something "gay" and uses it as an insult and as a way of saying something is stupid, they are calling homosexuals stupid. Don't call something that bothers you a sexual orientation and consider it to be an insult. Being homosexual is not a bad thing. It's as natural as heterosexuality is. It is not something that people should feel that they need to hide. However, many people hide it because they fear that their sexual orientation is a bad thing. Why do they think that? They think that because people use gay and stupid interchangeably. Please, do not think that these words' definitions are the same. They are not. Know what you are saying and know what it means.
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