'I Don't Say Retard': St. Albert student campaign tackles hurtful slurs

The posters plastered on the high school walls are jarring.

"I DON'T SAY RETARD BECAUSE" declares one poster that shows two Bellerose Composite High School students, arms crossed, then lists the reasons why.

"Everyone has value," it reads. "It's demeaning to those with disabilities."

The words slut, bitch and faggot are tackled in a similar fashion.

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The campaign was launched last year by the St. Albert school's "soul team" — a group dedicated to educating students about mental health and destigmatizing mental illness. It's catching on. This year, two local junior high schools have started their own poster initiatives.

"We just want to let people know that the words do have meaning and they carry weight for a lot of people, and that they are hurtful, said Morgan Goodall, 17, noting many people use the derogatory words without thinking about them.

"I think it's really great that it's just spreading outside of our doors into other places. The more people who know about it, the more chance we have of making a real change."

Teresa Mckernan, 17, whose older brother has autism, said encouraging others to stop using the "R-word" has personal significance. "I know the implications of that word and how hurtful it can be."

'Whoever you are is accepted'

One poster reminds people that calling someone a "slut" is demeaning. Another notes that the word "faggot' has a violent history, and tells readers, "it doesn't matter who you love."

"We chose ones that on paper they look harsh and they might not be something you see on a poster every day," said Jeff Beaton, a  counsellor at Bellerose Composite who helped start the soul team, whose members also chose the words. "But then the purpose of that is to make you read it.

"Part of that is creating that environment in the community and in our school that goes, 'Whoever you are is accepted.' "

Last November, the Alberta Teachers' Association distributed a toolkit to help staff create more inclusive school environments. It suggests teachers help students swap the still widely used homophobic phrase 'that's so gay" with other ways of expressing dislike such as "senseless," "pathetic" and "annoying."

Eliminating the hurtful 'R-word' was also promoted at the 2009 Special Olympics, which saw the birth of the movement: "'Spread the Word to End the Word." Hundreds of thousands have since made a pledge to stop using "retard" and ask the same of others.

Bellrose Composite's campaign also caught the eye of Twilight actor BooBoo Stewart Jr. last summer while he was at the school shooting a movie. McKernan said the actor told them he respected what they were doing.

"It was cool to see someone paying attention to it," said McKernan.

Follow Andrea Huncar on Twitter @andreahuncar. You can also contact her via email.