text: can someone help me with this? i am having problems with people at school using the word "retard". i normally don't find words that offensive because i am not that kind of person. i am 14 and in middle school and every couple days or so in 1st period study hall this down syndrome kid walks but our classroom and makes a lot of noise. sometimes i see people giggling and laughing quietly while i'm doing my best to ignore it. i have a brother who has cerebral palsy and in a wheelchair. this is one touchy subject that i hate to feel sensitive about but i just am. what can i do to make myself not feel so bad? i don't know that you will feel better about these kids behaving that way, and its okay to be sensitive to it. alot of people laugh at what they don't understand and that is wrong. i think the best thing you can do is be an example. if you see the person with down's walking down the hallway, walk with him and say hi. offer to sit with him at lunch, things like that. this will show the other kids that not everyone feels the way they do and there is nothing wrong with being nice to someone with a disability. you are very mature to feel the way you do, and you should be proud that you do not act the way they do.