If someone punched me once for everytime someone called someone else "gay" or "retarted" as a diss, I would be black and blue in the face. It honestly hurts me when people call someone gay or retarted for doing something stupid or making a mistake. Not only is it ignorant, it is completely innappropriate.
I have found my peers at Glenbrook South to be very tolerant and open and this is why it distresses me that students continue to call each other hurtful names. I know that when they say these things, they are probably not trying to be disrespectful to the gay community or people who are mentally challanged, but by calling someone gay or retarted to describe something stupid, they really are offending people.
Another problem with name calling is how quickly it spreads. If one person hears it, they will decide to use it and so on and so forth until people think that it is okay to call a simple mistake "gay".
I know that it would be very difficult for me to get everyone in the entire school to stop calling things gay when they really mean to use another word, but whenever I am having a conversation with someone and they describe the physics pop quiz as "gay", I always take a moment to ask them if that is what they really meant to say. Most of the time they realize it was not the best word to use and they quickly realize how ignorant they sound. Hopefully if people correct those who use the words "gay" or "retarted" disrespectively, they will realize their mistakes and choose to use different and less hurtful words in the future.
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