Nick News for kids covers R-word campaign

From Nick News with Linda Ellerbee:

How many times have you said the following phrase, without even thinking about it: "That's so retarded.

"Did you ever stop and think that there are people who find that word offensive, even hurtful?

The Special Olympics wants you to stop and think - think twice about using the "R" word.

It has launched a campaign called "Spread the Word to End the Word."

It wants the "R" word to be put in the same category as other offensive putdowns.

"It's insulting. It's painful. And it hurts people," said actor Eddie Barbanell, who appeared at an anti-"R" word rally recently. "Get that word out. End the word. Bury it!"

Barbanell knows from personal experience how hurtful the "R" word can be.

He has Down syndrome.

Down Syndrome is a developmental disability that makes it harder to learn things.

It's something people are born with.

But as Barbanell proves, people who have Down syndrome can overcome it and achieve their goals.

The Special Olympics is an athletic competition for people with developmental disabilities.

It was founded in 1968 by Eunice Kennedy Shriver.

She's a sister of the late President John F. Kennedy.The Kennedys had a developmentally disabled sister named Rosemary.

Thanks in large part to Rosemary, the family has been very sensitive to issues involving people with disabilities.

The Shriver family has made the Special Olympics an internationally-known organization over the years. California First Lady Maria Shriver is pictured.

Now, the group is trying to use that name-recognition to make people stop using the "R" word - a word that is no longer used by educated people to describe people with disabilities.

In Miami, Florida, 11th grader Noah Gray organized a rally against the "R" word last month at his school, Palmetto Senior High.

"I used to use the word ... all the time," he said, according to a report by the Associated Press. "(Now) I'm discouraging other people (from using it)."

The states of California, Iowa and Oklahoma have all issued proclamations in support of the campaign against the "R" word.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is married to Maria Shriver, Eunice Kennedy Shriver's daughter.

"Whether used as a direct insult or to mean 'stupid,' these words are incredibly hurtful to millions of people living with disabilities and those who love them," Governor Schwarzenegger wrote. "They are as offensive and mean as any other slur."

"The R-word is no longer acceptable and is anything but funny," Maria Shriver wrote, in an Op-Ed piece in the Los Angeles Times. "It's not acceptable in a movie theater; it's not acceptable on a playground ... It's not OK to use it in a classroom or a boardroom.

"Once we put ourselves in someone else's shoes," she added, "certain names just aren't that funny anymore."