Breanne Rowland Spread the Word to End the Word

When I heard about the Spread the Word to End the Word campaign, I knew that I had to participate. I think that it is extremely important for individuals to understand how the R word is a hateful word and the true meaning behind it. Many people do not realize how much they use the R word until they become more aware of it. For this campaign, another student and I made cookies that were decorated for the occasion to give out to the students who signed up to end the word. During the time spent in the Atrium at Touro, I was extremely surprised how the other programs responded to our group. They refused to sign the petition and were extremely rude to our group. I was shocked at the way the students treated us and felt embarrassed for the school. I think it is important for all individuals to be aware of this topic. One of the reasons this topic is important to me is because of one individual, who has been a family friend for the past 20 years. He has a disability and at times, his father tells people he is the R word. He has mentioned many times that this hurts him and that he wished his father would understand and stop calling him that. This makes me very upset to think that this is still going on and people really dont understand the connotation of the R word. This is why many individuals need to be educated on the use of the R word and completely stop using the word. Hopefully, after this campaign, we were able to enlighten a few people to stop using the R word.