Girl Scouts Teach Lesson On Language

A few weeks ago I was witness to real progress in our society. I learned a lesson about progress in how we have taught our kids about our differences. There is a large change in how people were viewed when I was young and how youth today view people.
This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. If you need to flag this entry as abusive, send us an email.

2016-06-15-1466024624-2211544-DSC01188.JPG
Photo by Eric Lipp

A few weeks ago I was witness to real progress in our society. I learned a lesson about progress in how we have taught our kids about our differences. There is a large change in how people were viewed when I was young and how youth today view people. In the late 70s and early 80s, when I was young, it was commonplace to use the word "retarded" to describe someone or something. We threw the word around the soccer pitch, the school yard, the parties, the classrooms, radio and TV.


A few weeks ago, however, I had the pleasure of teaching 7 Girls Scouts, from my daughter's troop, about disability and accessibility. As they huddled around me they looked in a complete amazement as I played one of the most moving videos I have ever seen on #youtube, from New Hope Indiana. This is a short video on ending the use of the word "retarded", "spread the word to end the word". The video played and I was totally moved as usual, but then a miraculous thing happened, 7 little girls, all 7, stared at me and asked "what does the word retarded mean"? I immediately broke into a smile, then a smirk, and then a few short giggles of joy and of course the single tear down the left side my face. Did they really just say that? Is this possible? Maybe we are moving forward toward a more inclusive world. I know there were 7 little girls, from a suburb outside a big city that has parents near my age who chose not to use the word retarded. Did this whole thing just happen, was that 100% of the Girl Scouts not knowing the word retarded? Bravo, to the teachers in my school district (Deerfield, IL), cheers to the parents of these children, kudos to their religious affiliations and of course WAY TO GIRLS! These young woman left me feeling energized. They made me feel this girl power thing happening at age 9-10 years old and maybe that is because we are on the cusp of real "GIRL POWER", Germany and the US, both led by woman? Awesome! I hope they don't use the word either!

Popular in the Community

Close

HuffPost Shopping’s Best Finds

MORE IN LIFE