Why are people so cruel to those that have down syndrome?

Question

Just one straight forward, simple question. Can anyone please tell me?

Thankyou all for your answers, I have a son, he's 17months old and has DS. It pains me so much to think, that he may get laughed at or bullied jus because of the way he looks!!!

Answer 1

Because Down's syndrome is so highly visible. Most disabled people dont really look all that different (facial features) but with the Down's syndrome its very obvious.

Its also very sad, the majority of Down's Syndrome people are affectionate and social if they are raised in a loving environment. So many were institutionalized in the past . It was like this terrible secret and shame that had to be locked away so no one would know.

The saddest part of that is that the majority are only low to moderately mentally challenged. Many have gone on to secondary education and done well. The majority can live fairly independently.

Unlike many other intellectually and mentally challenged disabled the majority of Down's Syndrome children can and do form "normal" friendships with other children and adults.

Quote: showed relationships with peers that met criteria for true friendships—reciprocal nomination in the friendship dyad, convergence between parental and child nomination, and at least 6-month stability of friendship in that dyad. Children with Down syndrome have also been shown to be more empathic than other children with developmental disabilities, showing more prosocial responses in a
simulated distress situation. End quote

This past ignorance and past treatment still has residual affects I think on how "normal" people regard them today. There is still that older generation who is handing down their prejudices to their offspring.

Of all the people I have worked with the Down's Syndrome children were my favourite just because of the pleasure of interacting with them. And all the hugs I got.

Its a harsh world they live in .. and we call ourselves "human beings"?

Answer 2

Look at it this way.

I am physcially challenged and weigh less than 100 pounds. This means I am very thin, but mentally stabled.

Anyway, it martifies my feeling whenever someone laughs at my disability. But what I did to correct this problem was proved to them all that they can't be like me.

I got myself in college and focused on one field, while they, the healthy brutal ones, were laughing at me... At the end of the day I was driving a car that they all wished to have, and the house I live in is what they can only dream of.

Of course it wasn't me who bought the car; Mom did, but I am more educated than those who constantly laugh at me.

So the other day they saw how pimped my car was. They were so shocked that they forgot to laugh at me. They just stood there looking at my ride as if they were hypnotized.

As usual, I simple go where I was going.

Now, when they are mean to you, remember to be kind to yourself and cultivate your areas. You are the only person who can make yourself happy, so why relay on others to do so?

I know it hurts, but this world has an end, and the next will take over. Hopefully the next world has something better to offer to us. The mighty word says " Who laughs last, laughts the best."

Answer 3

Those people have never thought " There but for the grace of God, go I". When they get older, they will feel different. You start to see things as how it would affect you, if this was your child.

They didn't do anything to deserve their condition and blaming parents is equally futile. I know it sounds trite but when I see someone so afflicted, I silently think " There is one of God's special ones" and then I thank God for the children,family and life I have had.

All the bad we do will come back to visit us at judgment and I believe we will feel what our victims felt before we can be forgiven.

Answer 4

I'm not cruel to them, but...

I think the reason people are mean to them is because they eat up a lot of our resources -- think, special education in school, health programs, etc. -- without any real chance of being useful to society someday.

Realize that, probably because of fear of lawsuits, most schools will employ a full-time special education teacher regardless of how dire the district's budget situation is. Often, this teacher is there to take care of only a handful of students. Meanwhile, financial crunches is forcing lay-offs in other departments.

Furthermore, other elective classes being shut down for lack of enrollment had four times more people sign up than the total enrolled in special ed classes. Often, those are unique classes catered to the brightest, most gifted kids at school, people who have huge futures ahead.

Sadly, and I hate to word it this way but I think it's how people feel, the most useless people in society are siphoning resources away from those with the highest potential to be major contributors.

Answer 5

I honestly believe this to be true - people are cruel to other folks who are percieved to be "different," especially if they think that somehow those different people are "less" than they are, because the only thing that stands between them laughing and being laughed at is the grace of God, or Fate, or whatever you want to call it. It's a crude way to prove that you're "normal," and express a sick relief of being the same.

Answer 6

I don't think the majority of people are deliberately mean. But for those that are it is the same reason most people get picked on, because they are different. they don't fall into society's standards of what is supposed to be "normal" For others unfortunately, they lack so much self confidence and respect for themselves that they bully or prey on others to make themselves feel better or more powerful.

Answer 7

Because they are ignorant. Those with down syndrome did not pray it upon themselves. It is one those life probabilities. Let us be tolerant of all people. The future is quite unpredictable. Something worse than down syndrome may be on the way. By the way, those with down syndrome have been reported to be smart.

Answer 8

Because it is a lot easier to tease a person with a weakness. Who would want to mess with someone they think could fight back.

Teasing or being cruel to someone with a handicap just proves to me how much of a punk they really are.

Answer 9

Well anytime you have a disability that is visible on a person's face, body, or voice, the person is unintentionally a target for the majority of people living on earth.

Answer 10

I think it depends on a lot of things. I feel sorry for those who are mentally handicapped. I know their lives are filled with great challanges and it isn't easy on them...I also feel they are nearer to God than Most....My kids have NEVER ever teased someone who has been disabled or mentally disabled...I think parents can teach their kids to be kinder and more considerate of others feelings and emotions.......