Spread the Word to End the Word

It is time we Spread the Word to End the Word™ and build awareness for society to stop and think about its’ use of the R-word. That R-word is something hurtful and painful – “retard” or “retarded.” Most people don’t think of this word as hate speech, but that’s exactly what it feels like to millions of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, their families and friends. This word is just as cruel and offensive as any other slur. Visit www.r-word.org to make your pledge today.

• Young people around the world are taking a stand and raising awareness of the dehumanizing and hurtful effects of the words “retard” or “retarded” and are helping encourage others to think before they speak.

• Up to three percent of the world’s population have intellectual disabilities - that’s 200 million people around the world. It’s the largest disability population in the world, perhaps you know someone?

• Young people are encouraging everyone to visit www.r-word.org and make their pledge to not use the R-word and have set a goal of reaching 100,000 pledges on March 3, 2010.

• We ask that you help us change the conversation and help eliminate the demeaning use of the R-word from today’s popular youth vernacular and replace it with “respect.” We are asking for your help in creating a more accepting world for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and all those people that may appear different, but have unique gifts and talents to share with the world.

• We’re asking every person - young and old - to help eliminate the demeaning use of the R-word–a common taunt used to make fun of others. Often unwittingly, the word is used to denote behavior that is clumsy, hapless, and even hopeless. But whether intentional or not, the word conjures up a painful stereotype of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. It hurts. Even if you don’t mean it that way.

• People with intellectual and developmental disabilities are capable and enjoy sharing life experiences – listening to music, playing video games, watching the latest movies, and yes, having fun – as well as working together toward athletic excellence and mutually enriching one-to-one friendships as demonstrated constantly through Special Olympics and Best Buddies International. They can attend school, work, drive cars, get married, participate in decisions that affect them, and contribute to society in many ways.

• Special Olympics’ Multi-National Public Opinion Study of Attitudes toward People with Intellectual Disabilities, conducted by Gallup, reveals that throughout the world, over 60 percent of people still believe that people with intellectual disabilities should be segregated in schools and in the workplace. This is intolerable. We need massive attitude change now to attack and reverse the stigma that is destructive to the lives of people with intellectual disabilities and a barrier to growth.

• Did you know that by casually using the word “retard(ed)” to refer to an action as less than ideal you are making someone with an intellectual disability feel less than human - whether you mean to or not? Demeaning any of our fellow human beings by using inappropriate words toward any population negatively impacts all of us.
Spread the Word to End the Word™ is an ongoing effort by Best Buddies International, Special Olympics and our supporters to raise the consciousness of society about the dehumanizing and hurtful effects of the word “retard(ed)” and encourage people to pledge to stop using the R-word.

In conjunction with the Spread the Word to End the Word campaign, you can produce an event geared toward high school students, a very important group in this effort to change people’s attitudes towards those who have different intellectual abilities and to treat them with more “respect” – the new “R” word.

Youth pledge drives and rallies are a successful way to get our message across to high school-ers like yourself, and to engage young people in the Spread the Word movement. Use these ideas below to produce your own event at your high school!

Hosting a Rally or Pledge Drive in your School
1. Pitch the idea to your school’s Principal, Assistant Principal, and/or Activities Director for approval to host a pledge table or rally.
2. Find a mentor/supporter for your event from your school or the local Best Buddies or Special Olympics Program.
3. Work with your school to determine logistics for the event – where can we host the pledge drive? How many students could attend a rally and when the event will take place. (School gym? Auditorium? Field?) Although March 3 is the “official” Spread the Word to End the Word Day, your event can take place any time of year.
4. Find out who in your school is already involved with Best Buddies and Special Olympics, and get them on board. They will be very helpful in planning and organizing the rally.

Ways to Spread the Word
1. Multimedia - The multimedia portion of your rally will be very important. You can create your own videos, or you can choose from many videos on End the Word YouTube channel. www.youtube.com/EndtheRword

2. Pledges- You can do this in many ways. You can tell them to go to www.r-word.org to pledge online. You can have giant posters or banners around the venue where your event is taking place and encourage your peers to sign them, or you can be creative and come up with your own way to get them to pledge.

3. Media Coverage- By producing your own event at your high school, you will be doing a great thing that the media will likely want to cover. Coverage of your event will help get more people involved in the movement and help Spread the Word to End the Word. In order to properly inform the media of the event, you will need to create a Press Release as well as a Media Alert. You should send the Press Release to local media outlets about a week before the event, and the Media Alert to the same media outlets the day before the rally. It is also nice to make a follow up phone call on the day of or before the event to make sure that they received the Media Alert and see if they plan on having a crew or reporter attend the event. You can access sample press releases and media alerts on the web at www.r-word.org or www.bestbuddies.org/spread-the-word-to-end-the-word.

4. Materials- You may choose to hand out pledge cards, wrist bands, T-shirts, etc. For materials and more resources to produce your own event you can visit www.r-word.org or www.bestbuddies.org/spread-the-word-to-end-the-word.

5. Merchandise- Spread the Word by wearing t-shirts on the day of your eve


Spread the Word to End the Word
Action Kit


EVENT AND ACTIVATION IDEAS

Spread the Word to End the Word™ relies on grass-roots activities to garner the majority of the campaign’s impact. Here are ideas on how you can participate locally in Spread the Word to End the Word.

1. Hold a local pledge event at school or in your community. Set up a laptop to encourage people to sign the www.r-word.org pledge page on the spot and/or create a banner for people to sign on the spot. Invite local Special Olympics athlete Global Messengers or Best Buddies Buddy Ambassadors to speak at an assembly.

2. Work with local sports teams to participate in a halftime event to promote Spread the Word to End the Word.

3. Spread the word - samples are included in this kit:
• Use sample leaflets and talking points
• Hang posters
• Stickers
• Send e-mails
• Text / call your family and friends
• Create your own Spread the Word to End the Word Youth Rally
• Use your social networks on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Linked In
• Join Spread the Word to End the Word’s social networking pages (see Social Media Activation resource for more info)
• Send an Evite to friends to take the pledge and spread the word
• Use the new R-word Counter to see how many times your favorite website uses the R-word and then send the link to your friends – http://www.rwordcounter.org

4. Print and distribute leaflets throughout your community.

5. Notify the press. Call local radio shows and write letters to the editor of your local newspaper using the samples provided in this kit.

6. Post a comment to an online social message board sharing your thoughts about the R-word and its abuse in our society.

7. Create a video speaking out against the use of the R-word to post on our Fan Community (http://community.specialolympics.org) or YouTube. Share the link with your friends and family.

8. Post your event’s time and location in the community events section of your hometown newspaper or in your school newspaper or Web site.

9. Set up a booth at events or conferences.

10. Contact your local Special Olympics or Best Buddies office to learn how to get involved in Spread the Word to End the Word events in your community.

11. Document your activities with pictures and videos and upload them to our Fan Community! (http://community.specialolympics.org)