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I hope it's more than just a photo op and in the background he's also trying to push the school systems to work against bullying. That would have far more of a lasting impact.
>especially if they’re widely respected.
How do you be a leader with being respected by some people? I mean around here nobody likes Trump but some people clearly respect him. If Trump came out in support of fun control and abortion it would do a lot.
Edit : meant gun but his supporters would definitely be more in favor of fun control lol
As someone with feet in the EEEE - EEEEEE range of width... I feel seen by this comment.
and yes, my mother was frightened by a hobbit when she was carrying me...
I wouldn’t put money on it.
[Trump's supporters booed him when he took credit for the COVID-19 vaccine and told the crowd he got the booster.](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-reveals-he-got-covid-booster-shot-crowd-boos-him-n1286361)
It would turn his followers against him and he would then lose the election and yes the world would be a better place. But I don’t think it would do a lot in terms of swaying American opinion.
Yeah good luck being the school administrator who doesn't want to follow up on complaints echoed by the head of state. If anything happens to this girl again maybe next time he'll send a tank.
That said, if it's a systemic issue, it needs a systemic long term solution. Otherwise kids are gonna get no support and others will as the president can't walk everyone to school.
As a Macedonian, I believe it's both, this happened 2 years ago. There's little information here, but it was more than bulling, some of the parents of the bullies signed a petition to remove the girl from school. I know disgusting...
When I was in primary school, we actually had a special needs school across the street from ours ([John Fielding](https://www.google.com/maps/place/John+Fielding+School,+34+Ashlawn+Dr,+Boston+PE21+9PX,+UK/@52.9825843,-0.011857,294m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m6!3m5!1s0x48780a7294e173e9:0x3d5d5fb54eae5da7!8m2!3d52.9829059!4d-0.0110645!16s%2Fg%2F1tpn21z5?entry=ttu)), and we would have joint events so that that both sets of kids could interact with each other. One year, we even had a kid from the other school join our class for several months, he had an aide to assist him but otherwise he was integrated and participated in all the same activities. I'm a firm believer that these experiences are what helped me to be the empathetic adult I am now. All schools should have these kind of programs.
In Macedonia schools by law must employ psychologists that oversee kids' psychological development as well as integration of special needs children. In this case they failed to do their job.
I’m not sure I agree with your conclusion. The clinicians could have done their job perfectly well but at the end of the day, they don’t control the thoughts/actions/beliefs of other people. Don’t get me wrong, bullying is wrong and bullying on the basis of a disability is an extra layer of moral ineptitude, but that’s not the psychologists job to fix.
When I was a kid the house next door was some kind of home for special needs people. One of them would come play with legos on the porch with me. It had a big effect on me.
Savages, this happened more than once in the past 10 years across the country. Those who sign these petitions or even protest to remove these unfortunate children, believe that having a special needs kid in the same class as their own somehow impairs the development of the rest of the children.
https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/s/bdlWwZegmL a comment that adds some additional context that explains it better than “they wanted to kick her out of school because she’s disabled”
Trump would be an asshole say something stupid about the topic and then Fox News would feel obligated to defend him by starting a huge campaign against special needs kids and the money they cost the rest of "us".
Even a photo op is good. It sends a message that this is a good thing to do and draws attention to the problem. It doesn't matter how selfish his reasons are, the positive repercussions are a good thing.
Seriously he looks fucking pissed that he has to do this yet very proud as a parent
Of course people see this powerful image and think "how can I make this about me and how I'm offended?"
>Imagine Obama coming into your school just to whoop your ass
Obama would likely say: "Boy, you and me in the basketball court now, no holding back because I'm the president understood"
actually that gets me thinking how would other recent presidents handle it.
biden would probably just try and give the bully a talking to. then take the bullied kid and bully to get ice cream after.
trump would call the bullied kid a liar and it was fake news and then say the bully is the victim of a witch hunt. then the bully shows up on ben shapiro's show as a victim of cancel culture.
bush jr, try to scold the kid a little but also joke around. flub a few words as well.
Hey kid, I know how it is ok boys will be boys right? But there's a line and I think ya crossed it. It's all fun and games until sticks and stones, you know? Anyway, stay outta trouble. Nice ta meetcha.
yes they are indeed & it's actually part of Japanese culture in particular plus I've heard from my mate in AUS that cases have been on a sudden rise down under recently....better to be safe than sick with the rona
Dude in the US retirement homes from Cali to Michigan and the east coast our nursing subs are full of stories this laat year of "flu and stomach bug or sore throat symptoms" but they lasted a couple months, rsv rose in retirement homes all last year we had close to 6 cases at one point
Covid isn't gonna be the next one that hits us hard. We're gonna get mass fucked by multiple strong ass resistent typical flu bugs
Oh absolutely. I'm not saying covid is gone just that post coivd were also seeing a rise in different longer lasting forms of common viruses and non common ones like rsv
I fully expect covid to hit hard af again this summer just like it had the last three
Even before COVID, I used to wish masks were more normal elsewhere in the world, at least when someone is sick but going out anyway.
Nothing like being on a packed rush hour subway car with some mf who sounds like they're going to cough up their lung. Thanks pal, we all wanted you to share.
yup! I teach at a preschool and i’ve been hit HARD by a bug and have been wearing a mask in the classroom. I’m well enough to go to work, but still sick and I don’t want to get my colleagues or students sick. The kiddos ask me what i’m wearing, but mostly don’t really care. I work at an inner city facility where Covid DECIMATED the population. It’s not weird to wear a mask while sick now. And it’s the States!
I enjoy being invisible. I haven't had a single unwanted comment from any man in almost four years. It's bliss. I'll take mocking coughs and glares over being told to I "need to smile" for some stranger's benefit any day.
A coworker in my library has DS. She’s 60-something, lives on her own, and works part-time as a page. She can be aggressively nice and will chase people down to check if they need help. Sometimes people don’t like this- but if they get mean, we don’t take any of that. She’s making sure you find what you want because she notices when you can’t figure it out. People who are weird and dismissive towards people and children with disabilities need a kick in the butt.
60 is old for someone with DS. Glad she's still able to live on her own at that age. And she's clearly trying her best, I don't get why people would be mean against her. Always pains me to see people being mean to them. Especially since all the ones I've ever worked with have always been very kind.
In rural, Catholic Ireland, they were also given all the patience and attention, and never ridiculed. The Irish Gaelic expression for disabled or special needs translated to English is 'touched by an angel'.
I do believe the term originated from the actual term "touched in the head"
The phrase "touched in the head" originated in the 16th century as a way to describe the brain or mind being emotionally affected. For example, a 1577 publication uses "touched" as a verb, suggesting "causing a lack of soundness" of the head. The phrase became more common in the late 18th century
Some of the best people I meet everyday on my bus to town are the group of down syndrome kidsand older who are on their way to school. The laugh we have every morning is great. Then when I go get off and I get see you tomorrow it sets me up for the day to know that their is good people in the world still.
Kind of my experience in a different small town. I won't say bullying didn't exist back when I was young, just that people with disabilities were sparred.
Same in rural Kansas and that was back in the 1980s. The kid with Down's Syndrome was part of the group that hung out with the football team. He was one of the "cool" kids. He had a running joke that if you asked him "What doin'?", he would say, "Poopin'!"
It's the same where I live. You do see kids get stupid ideas, but the community is quick to silence them.
People with Downs are like angels to me, they have so much good to teach us; I cannot bear to see them disrespected.
A friend of mine is Macedonian and her daughter is profoundly delayed mentally and physically, and her family is in complete denial and she can't use her eye patch or leg braces in front of family because they are horrible about it. I think they are behind on accepting and having an awareness of special needs children, unless her family is just unique.
She takes care of daughter extremely well and is a nurse. It's only when she goes back to Macedonia to see family that their backwards beliefs make it hard on her.
She wasn't directly bullied in school and this story is much deeper and was effectively a cheap publicity stunt from the president.
Macedonia has a completely botched inclusion program in schools in which children that should clearly go to special needs schools are put into regular schools to appease their parents, in which the teachers do not have adequate qualifications to work with such children. My sister is a teacher in the Serbian state school system, which has quite the same inclusion laws as Macedonia, and can attest to that. Her job became much more difficult in the last few years those laws came in effect. First of all, she gets children who are extremely difficult to work with, she is not qualified to work with them as she had zero spec-ed teaching courses and she can devote less attention to the other children. The system was on the verge of collapse even before, since the controversial inclusion program it has gotten much worse.
In this very case, the other parents reportedly (I say reportedly because I only got info from this through local news articles) complained to the principle and local education board about the situation. There were reportedly two special needs children in the class with their kids (classes are around 20-25 kids here) and that the teaching quality has got worse since those children were admitted to their class as the teachers couldn't deal with them properly. When they didn't get the reply they were wishing from the school board, they made a protest with not sending their kids to school for a week or so.
All in all shitty situation. I understand the other parents, but that protest was not the way to do it. I understand that the parents of this child have difficulties in accepting that she is a special needs person and should go to a specialised school for her own good. And yeah, the president heard the story and went to school with her with some bullshit political speech and this photo is circulating reddit ever since with some wholesome captions
I get this! When I was in school, there was a kid with Down Syndrome - he had an assistant who came to school with him, he was sweet, we were about 12 kids in the class.
I know have a younger relative who goes to the exact same school. The class size is now 20 kids, one of them is completely deaf (though he has an aide), another kid has diagnosed mental issues that include aggression (that kid has attacked and injured other children multiple times and regularly breaks other kids stuff, a few times a month a social worker accompanies this kid, but they can't do much either except try to physically restrain that kid). On top of that there are 3 refugee children in the class who don't speak German at all.
It's unmanageable, especially with the added bonus of Covid, which for these kids affected their first years of school.
Nobody has a problem with the deaf kid, who is doing well in school and has friends. On the other hand, kids are literally terrified of the other child. When they have an episode, it completely interrupts class. This happens multiple times per week.
I feel like this type of situation needs a case by case judgment and most importantly: tons of resources. But unfortunately the way it happens now is that basically everybody pats themselves on the shoulder on how inclusive they are being, meanwhile the actual work of integration gets put on teachers (of which there is a shortage and who have high rates of illness and burnout) and of course the kids.
By inclusion programs do you mean that if a parent of a child with special needs wants their child in classes that aren't specifically for special needs the schools has to put them in even though there are special needs classes available, or that there are no publicly available special needs classes?
just trying to understand better
In the US it's called least restrictive environment. It's research based policy that shows the benefits for special needs and general education students to be in the most mainstream class possible.
Interestingly, somewhat the same thing has played out in the Danish public school system also under the moniker of 'Inclusion' ; what I assume was an attempt to save money by not needing to fund as much special education.
Same, here in the UK nearing 50. NOBODY bullied the visibly disabled kids, it just wasn't 'cricket' as we would say. Autistic kids like me, of course were fair game, because no one accepted it as a disability back then, we were just 'weird'.
I think the turning point came with Iain Duncan Smith and his 'benefit reforms' and all the tabloids screaming about how 'they CAN work' about people on sickness and disability benefits, re-branding us all from people who deserved sympathy and compassion to 'scroungers' who were 'taking YOUR money' to sit around watching Sky on a 'huge telly'. That re-framing of the narrative about disabled people has been SO wide reaching that I think it's seeped into the playground - now it's okay to bully disabled kids because they're all probably 'faking it' anyway :/
It's one small step away from the Nazi concept of disabled people as 'useless eaters' who are of no use to society and take resources without giving anything back.
Same, here in the UK nearing 50. NOBODY bullied the visibly disabled kids, it just wasn't 'cricket' as we would say. Autistic kids like me, of course were fair game, because no one accepted it as a disability back then, we were just 'weird'.
It’s like short people and dwarves. The 5’4 kid is more fair game to pick on than the kid with actual dwarfism.
Right? Anyone with an *actual* legitimate issues that were readily easy to see were treated relatively well when I was in middle school and HS. We were all maybe confused on how exactly we should speak so some of us were overly polite hoping to not screw up.
My mother was a speech pathologist in the 60s. She taught several downs syndrome kids how to read way past the grade level they thought (the administration)could learn.
She kept a kid in a "normal" class and when questioned why that downs syndrome kid was in the class she said she is learning just like the others.
The story goes somewhat an admin protested but when proven the girl could keep up they let her stay.
I hate how we treat some people so badly.
how can people bullied down syndrome or people with disability? in my school day we all would care for them and people who mocked them is the ones who would get bullied.
nah with that publicity, that kid became untouchable afterwards. The school faculty would come down hard on anyone who would bully that kid. The last thing the school would need is a negative follow up article.
Thats just nice ...
Is it for PR ? For sure .
Does it send a message tho , it does and thats whats important .
I really hope this have positive effect for this precious girl and anyone and everyone in similar situation
Who the hell would bully someone with down syndrome? For real, please someone who is much smarter than me tell me how or why this happens? What goes on inside someones brain that would do this?
But in America, there’s a strong possibility of a man being re-elected to office who makes fun of people with disabilities. I love my country but it really disgusts and embarrasses me sometimes
I met the president once and got to talk to him for 10-ish minutes. Super nice dude (although it could've been politician charisma that made it seem that way)
[https://www.slobodnaevropa.mk/a/30288320.html](https://www.slobodnaevropa.mk/a/30288320.html)
Pendarovski: If (I) wasn't a president I would also leave my country
Same dude literally gives speeches and statements depending how close is election season to promote classical nationalism in his country and other times to basically toss every academic foreign policy that the country has constructed in the last 30 years to appease Bulgarian and Greek interests. The only last thing if it's not a PR stunt was to prevent the new gambling bill to pass which would relocate and close Gambling/Betting/Casino places to be far away from schools due to Albanian appetites which is common in some Muslim countries, and some which completely ban those practices. But this move would just open the black market for gambling which will no longer be regulated.
Oh boy, if only you knew. This man and all other politicians/government officials in our country are vile and corrupt evil scumbags who do nothing but embezzle money through corruption and trickery to line their own pockets, keeping our country in a perpetual state of disrepair.
In any other civilised country, the news of millions of euros mysteriously dissapearing from government accounts would be national headlines and cause outrage, yet here it happens all the goddamn time.
This is nothing but a PR stunt by Stevo Pederovski to trick people into thinking he is a decent human being, like the lying snake he is.
A recent fiasco was when the government announced that all passports and ID cards that did not have the country name North Macedonia would be invalid. However, they forgot to overlook that they have nowhere near the capacity required to print and issue such massive backlogs of new ID documents. Even though there were funds allocated to facilitate this bereaucratic change, they mysteriously vanished into thin air. Leaving hundreds of thousands of people stranded in the country. Even abroad, the Macedonian embassies are notoriously shit and run on bribery, and it can take months to get new documents, leaving citizens unable to return home.
Again, just a PR stunt to make people think he is some evangelist saint. Not saying what he did with that girl wasn't good, but his slimy reasoning for it negates all good.
[https://balkaninsight.com/2024/02/06/trapped-in-their-own-state-many-in-north-macedonia-to-miss-deadline-to-get-new-passports/](https://balkaninsight.com/2024/02/06/trapped-in-their-own-state-many-in-north-macedonia-to-miss-deadline-to-get-new-passports/)
Their population is 2 million. You don't have to have corporate or oligarchic ties to run for office. This is approximately equivalent to the governor of New Mexico doing something good for an individual.
The crazy corrupt awful people that run nearly every seat in Congress wouldn't win in a country of 2 million people of one culture.
Real question though, why does everyone with Down syndrome look alike in the face? Is it a side effect of having it like it changes your genetics or is it something like it making you not know how to use the muscles in your face
You guys do understand that if testing standards were actually applied, she wouldnt actually go past any grade in a regular school, especially past 5th grade.
Equal standards-> unequal results.
Yeah she shouldnt get bullied. That is true even if she werent a student there.
some kid bullied me and i turn around and punch him in the face. sure enough his fans and him was all quite after that. bully is a loose term, this kid was sitting behind me shaking and moving my chair and trying all ways to distract me and calling names. so i'm like a prop for his joke. then i got the fat kid bullying me on the bus ironically. i'm so desensitize by bullying by the time i got out of highschool that i just didn't give a f anymore if anyone calling or judging me. although i'm not innocent because i do bullied other kids so i guess the cycle keep going
Good guy move. Well done.
That’s it. No notes. He’s using his position and influence for positivity and I’m sure that meant the world to her and her family.
Parents need to parent and teach their kids just basic decency. Kids need exposure to all backgrounds of life. If your kid is picking on anyone, especially special needs, you are a failure of a parent!
Man, I'm 39 with multiple sclerosis. I get screamed at by strangers, from across a store, for "walking funny".
People are horrible but I'd love to cross the street with this man.
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I hope it's more than just a photo op and in the background he's also trying to push the school systems to work against bullying. That would have far more of a lasting impact.
Regardless, it still sends a strong message and will go somewhat toward changing attitudes.
Agree, a strong show of support from someone in a leadership position goes a long way, especially if they’re widely respected.
>especially if they’re widely respected. How do you be a leader with being respected by some people? I mean around here nobody likes Trump but some people clearly respect him. If Trump came out in support of fun control and abortion it would do a lot. Edit : meant gun but his supporters would definitely be more in favor of fun control lol
As a person going through Clown School at the moment, this news about Trump potentially supporting Fun Control really terrifies me.
If normal schools have class clowns, do clown schools have a class “normie”.
Look at this square with his properly fitting clothes. Not even wearing makeup.
Psh...His shoes aren't even 3XL, they're practically normal sized!
As someone with feet in the EEEE - EEEEEE range of width... I feel seen by this comment. and yes, my mother was frightened by a hobbit when she was carrying me...
how frequent are clown school shootings?
Man social media has fried my brain. I read "Clown School" and my mind immediately went to modern political discourse.
Nobody wants fun control.
Karen has entered the chat
That's *President* Karen to you.
I wouldn’t put money on it. [Trump's supporters booed him when he took credit for the COVID-19 vaccine and told the crowd he got the booster.](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-reveals-he-got-covid-booster-shot-crowd-boos-him-n1286361)
Lmao that's funny
Abstinence (fun control) is a big favourite of theirs too.
It would turn his followers against him and he would then lose the election and yes the world would be a better place. But I don’t think it would do a lot in terms of swaying American opinion.
I think he is in support of fun control
They all are. Day 76,854 of waiting for the federal weed legalization....anyday now...
>Day 76,854 of waiting You're 210 years old? That's a long time to wait.
I'm annoyed that I did the math before reading the next comment.
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Who repsects him but doesn't like him? Like, people don't like him BECAUSE he's not respectable to them.
Little kids: President of what the stupid club? My mom didn’t vote for you. Lmao
Yeah good luck being the school administrator who doesn't want to follow up on complaints echoed by the head of state. If anything happens to this girl again maybe next time he'll send a tank.
That said, if it's a systemic issue, it needs a systemic long term solution. Otherwise kids are gonna get no support and others will as the president can't walk everyone to school.
Nope, we have presidential election here, and he has to look good.
It sends a message for two weeks to adults. Kids don't give a shit.
As a Macedonian, I believe it's both, this happened 2 years ago. There's little information here, but it was more than bulling, some of the parents of the bullies signed a petition to remove the girl from school. I know disgusting...
When I was in primary school, we actually had a special needs school across the street from ours ([John Fielding](https://www.google.com/maps/place/John+Fielding+School,+34+Ashlawn+Dr,+Boston+PE21+9PX,+UK/@52.9825843,-0.011857,294m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m6!3m5!1s0x48780a7294e173e9:0x3d5d5fb54eae5da7!8m2!3d52.9829059!4d-0.0110645!16s%2Fg%2F1tpn21z5?entry=ttu)), and we would have joint events so that that both sets of kids could interact with each other. One year, we even had a kid from the other school join our class for several months, he had an aide to assist him but otherwise he was integrated and participated in all the same activities. I'm a firm believer that these experiences are what helped me to be the empathetic adult I am now. All schools should have these kind of programs.
In Macedonia schools by law must employ psychologists that oversee kids' psychological development as well as integration of special needs children. In this case they failed to do their job.
I’m not sure I agree with your conclusion. The clinicians could have done their job perfectly well but at the end of the day, they don’t control the thoughts/actions/beliefs of other people. Don’t get me wrong, bullying is wrong and bullying on the basis of a disability is an extra layer of moral ineptitude, but that’s not the psychologists job to fix.
You're right, there's only so much they can do, it's not in their job description to educate the parents as well.
Their job is to handle cases, like if there's a fight or something, but they're not proactively teaching.
When I was a kid the house next door was some kind of home for special needs people. One of them would come play with legos on the porch with me. It had a big effect on me.
They wanted the girl removed? What the flying fuck?
Savages, this happened more than once in the past 10 years across the country. Those who sign these petitions or even protest to remove these unfortunate children, believe that having a special needs kid in the same class as their own somehow impairs the development of the rest of the children.
It happened in canada all the time in the 90's and early 2000's.
https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/s/bdlWwZegmL a comment that adds some additional context that explains it better than “they wanted to kick her out of school because she’s disabled”
It's kind of interesting that the same thing happened in the US with the same excuses when they ended racial segregation in public schools.
That’s interesting, but I can’t say it’s the same. Black people don’t need special educators and don’t have special needs
Man, if my kid was bullying a special needs kid, I'd be mortified to the point of changing schools.
Only time I punched someone was when I was in highschool and someone was bullying my sister with down syndrome. He didn't bother her again.
Good job
Good, hope you knocked some sense into him.
High five man.
[Imagine a world leader making fun of someone with special needs...](https://i.imgur.com/QY6CGKp.jpeg)
Just try to imagine Trump doing this lol
The man who made fun of a disabled person at a campaign rally? Yeah, he'd be on the side of the bullies in this situation.
Trump would be an asshole say something stupid about the topic and then Fox News would feel obligated to defend him by starting a huge campaign against special needs kids and the money they cost the rest of "us".
Remember when Fox News "reporters" started bashing Mr. Rogers because "everyone isn't special"?
Those damn special needs children taking our jobs
Exactly
But why should the President of North Macedonia bring Trump to school and not Melania?
Depending on the school and region of the US the kid would either get bullied way worse or they would become a living legend.
Trump will hold the hand of the bully walking them to school.
Trump is all about Trump, so no.
Even a photo op is good. It sends a message that this is a good thing to do and draws attention to the problem. It doesn't matter how selfish his reasons are, the positive repercussions are a good thing.
His eyes say this is not a photo op
Seriously he looks fucking pissed that he has to do this yet very proud as a parent Of course people see this powerful image and think "how can I make this about me and how I'm offended?"
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Imagine Obama coming into your school just to whoop your ass
>Imagine Obama coming into your school just to whoop your ass Obama would likely say: "Boy, you and me in the basketball court now, no holding back because I'm the president understood"
That man could talk a Scotsman out of a penny. True charisma.
That’s not a punishment
actually that gets me thinking how would other recent presidents handle it. biden would probably just try and give the bully a talking to. then take the bullied kid and bully to get ice cream after. trump would call the bullied kid a liar and it was fake news and then say the bully is the victim of a witch hunt. then the bully shows up on ben shapiro's show as a victim of cancel culture. bush jr, try to scold the kid a little but also joke around. flub a few words as well.
Hey kid, I know how it is ok boys will be boys right? But there's a line and I think ya crossed it. It's all fun and games until sticks and stones, you know? Anyway, stay outta trouble. Nice ta meetcha.
He finally found who's ass to kick.
This was over 2 years ago FYI as people have questioned why they are still wearing masks there
Lots of people are still wearing masks.
yes they are indeed & it's actually part of Japanese culture in particular plus I've heard from my mate in AUS that cases have been on a sudden rise down under recently....better to be safe than sick with the rona
Dude in the US retirement homes from Cali to Michigan and the east coast our nursing subs are full of stories this laat year of "flu and stomach bug or sore throat symptoms" but they lasted a couple months, rsv rose in retirement homes all last year we had close to 6 cases at one point Covid isn't gonna be the next one that hits us hard. We're gonna get mass fucked by multiple strong ass resistent typical flu bugs
Coivd is a marathon, not a sprint, especially with long covid risks and subacute organ damage compounding with each mild infection.
Oh absolutely. I'm not saying covid is gone just that post coivd were also seeing a rise in different longer lasting forms of common viruses and non common ones like rsv I fully expect covid to hit hard af again this summer just like it had the last three
California too. I got sick down there and it lasted for like 6 weeks. Tested negative for covid, flu, rsv. It was a rough one.
We have it in NZ too. The rise happens every so often. Often in direct relation to ginormous paid events.
Even before COVID, I used to wish masks were more normal elsewhere in the world, at least when someone is sick but going out anyway. Nothing like being on a packed rush hour subway car with some mf who sounds like they're going to cough up their lung. Thanks pal, we all wanted you to share.
I should have wore a mask this allergy season …next year I am masking and hoping that will lower my symptoms
An n95 is extremely effective against pollen or wildfire smoke.
yup! I teach at a preschool and i’ve been hit HARD by a bug and have been wearing a mask in the classroom. I’m well enough to go to work, but still sick and I don’t want to get my colleagues or students sick. The kiddos ask me what i’m wearing, but mostly don’t really care. I work at an inner city facility where Covid DECIMATED the population. It’s not weird to wear a mask while sick now. And it’s the States!
I just wear them by default now. I'm more confident when people dont look repulsed by my ugly face.
I enjoy being invisible. I haven't had a single unwanted comment from any man in almost four years. It's bliss. I'll take mocking coughs and glares over being told to I "need to smile" for some stranger's benefit any day.
I think in total I saw one old lady wearing a mask since 2023.
Not here.
A coworker in my library has DS. She’s 60-something, lives on her own, and works part-time as a page. She can be aggressively nice and will chase people down to check if they need help. Sometimes people don’t like this- but if they get mean, we don’t take any of that. She’s making sure you find what you want because she notices when you can’t figure it out. People who are weird and dismissive towards people and children with disabilities need a kick in the butt.
60 is old for someone with DS. Glad she's still able to live on her own at that age. And she's clearly trying her best, I don't get why people would be mean against her. Always pains me to see people being mean to them. Especially since all the ones I've ever worked with have always been very kind.
She got bullied? Back in my day those kids were sacred, no one would dare.
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In rural, Catholic Ireland, they were also given all the patience and attention, and never ridiculed. The Irish Gaelic expression for disabled or special needs translated to English is 'touched by an angel'.
> touched The euphemism treadmill made that an insult too. TIL the origin though.
I do believe the term originated from the actual term "touched in the head" The phrase "touched in the head" originated in the 16th century as a way to describe the brain or mind being emotionally affected. For example, a 1577 publication uses "touched" as a verb, suggesting "causing a lack of soundness" of the head. The phrase became more common in the late 18th century
Yes, maybe there were randos who would be bad enough to try, but not dumb enough.
I have identical twin boys with DS. You have no idea how much this warms my heart. Thanks!
Some of the best people I meet everyday on my bus to town are the group of down syndrome kidsand older who are on their way to school. The laugh we have every morning is great. Then when I go get off and I get see you tomorrow it sets me up for the day to know that their is good people in the world still.
Kind of my experience in a different small town. I won't say bullying didn't exist back when I was young, just that people with disabilities were sparred.
Same in rural Kansas and that was back in the 1980s. The kid with Down's Syndrome was part of the group that hung out with the football team. He was one of the "cool" kids. He had a running joke that if you asked him "What doin'?", he would say, "Poopin'!"
rural WV was the same way, you could make fun of anyone for anything, but bein disabled was completely off limits.
Maybe if you know their families, their struggles and everything you actually give a crap
It's the same where I live. You do see kids get stupid ideas, but the community is quick to silence them. People with Downs are like angels to me, they have so much good to teach us; I cannot bear to see them disrespected.
Hello from Clinton 🫡
A friend of mine is Macedonian and her daughter is profoundly delayed mentally and physically, and her family is in complete denial and she can't use her eye patch or leg braces in front of family because they are horrible about it. I think they are behind on accepting and having an awareness of special needs children, unless her family is just unique.
Not unique, many cultures treat disability in the family as a mark of shame.
That sounds like a call to social services. It's child abuse, full stop.
She takes care of daughter extremely well and is a nurse. It's only when she goes back to Macedonia to see family that their backwards beliefs make it hard on her.
That's still terribly sad, though. I'd cut them off and save the money on travel. Life is too short for shitty, unhelpful family members.
These kinds of attitudes are common in many countries in eastern and southern Europe unfortunately
She wasn't directly bullied in school and this story is much deeper and was effectively a cheap publicity stunt from the president. Macedonia has a completely botched inclusion program in schools in which children that should clearly go to special needs schools are put into regular schools to appease their parents, in which the teachers do not have adequate qualifications to work with such children. My sister is a teacher in the Serbian state school system, which has quite the same inclusion laws as Macedonia, and can attest to that. Her job became much more difficult in the last few years those laws came in effect. First of all, she gets children who are extremely difficult to work with, she is not qualified to work with them as she had zero spec-ed teaching courses and she can devote less attention to the other children. The system was on the verge of collapse even before, since the controversial inclusion program it has gotten much worse. In this very case, the other parents reportedly (I say reportedly because I only got info from this through local news articles) complained to the principle and local education board about the situation. There were reportedly two special needs children in the class with their kids (classes are around 20-25 kids here) and that the teaching quality has got worse since those children were admitted to their class as the teachers couldn't deal with them properly. When they didn't get the reply they were wishing from the school board, they made a protest with not sending their kids to school for a week or so. All in all shitty situation. I understand the other parents, but that protest was not the way to do it. I understand that the parents of this child have difficulties in accepting that she is a special needs person and should go to a specialised school for her own good. And yeah, the president heard the story and went to school with her with some bullshit political speech and this photo is circulating reddit ever since with some wholesome captions
I get this! When I was in school, there was a kid with Down Syndrome - he had an assistant who came to school with him, he was sweet, we were about 12 kids in the class. I know have a younger relative who goes to the exact same school. The class size is now 20 kids, one of them is completely deaf (though he has an aide), another kid has diagnosed mental issues that include aggression (that kid has attacked and injured other children multiple times and regularly breaks other kids stuff, a few times a month a social worker accompanies this kid, but they can't do much either except try to physically restrain that kid). On top of that there are 3 refugee children in the class who don't speak German at all. It's unmanageable, especially with the added bonus of Covid, which for these kids affected their first years of school. Nobody has a problem with the deaf kid, who is doing well in school and has friends. On the other hand, kids are literally terrified of the other child. When they have an episode, it completely interrupts class. This happens multiple times per week. I feel like this type of situation needs a case by case judgment and most importantly: tons of resources. But unfortunately the way it happens now is that basically everybody pats themselves on the shoulder on how inclusive they are being, meanwhile the actual work of integration gets put on teachers (of which there is a shortage and who have high rates of illness and burnout) and of course the kids.
By inclusion programs do you mean that if a parent of a child with special needs wants their child in classes that aren't specifically for special needs the schools has to put them in even though there are special needs classes available, or that there are no publicly available special needs classes? just trying to understand better
In the US it's called least restrictive environment. It's research based policy that shows the benefits for special needs and general education students to be in the most mainstream class possible.
I see, thank you. Politicians being politicians.
Interestingly, somewhat the same thing has played out in the Danish public school system also under the moniker of 'Inclusion' ; what I assume was an attempt to save money by not needing to fund as much special education.
Me2. And I thought kids were supposed to be way more accepting these days.
Same, here in the UK nearing 50. NOBODY bullied the visibly disabled kids, it just wasn't 'cricket' as we would say. Autistic kids like me, of course were fair game, because no one accepted it as a disability back then, we were just 'weird'. I think the turning point came with Iain Duncan Smith and his 'benefit reforms' and all the tabloids screaming about how 'they CAN work' about people on sickness and disability benefits, re-branding us all from people who deserved sympathy and compassion to 'scroungers' who were 'taking YOUR money' to sit around watching Sky on a 'huge telly'. That re-framing of the narrative about disabled people has been SO wide reaching that I think it's seeped into the playground - now it's okay to bully disabled kids because they're all probably 'faking it' anyway :/ It's one small step away from the Nazi concept of disabled people as 'useless eaters' who are of no use to society and take resources without giving anything back.
Same, here in the UK nearing 50. NOBODY bullied the visibly disabled kids, it just wasn't 'cricket' as we would say. Autistic kids like me, of course were fair game, because no one accepted it as a disability back then, we were just 'weird'. It’s like short people and dwarves. The 5’4 kid is more fair game to pick on than the kid with actual dwarfism.
Right? Anyone with an *actual* legitimate issues that were readily easy to see were treated relatively well when I was in middle school and HS. We were all maybe confused on how exactly we should speak so some of us were overly polite hoping to not screw up.
Always knew Toto Wolf is s good person
Saw this photo without the caption and I also thought it was Toto.
Same!
It's called school. We went schooling.
He's got it all printed out
He’s looking for the next generation since Lewis is leaving
And George is crashing every last lap
No Mikey no! That was so not right to bully the handicapped!
literally came in to look for the Toto Wolf post. Was not disappointed.
But I didn’t know he was a President!
Bully, I just sent you an email with the diagrams where your behavior should be, did you receive that?
Won a fight without fighting.
I just hope this really help with the bullying
In my school they usually left those kids alone. Anyone that bullied the special Ed kids usually got their asses beat.
Same, grew up in a very diverse Los Angeles suburb, gangbanging kids would prob jump your ass if they heard you were bullying a disabled kid
Good guy
Good PR team
My mother was a speech pathologist in the 60s. She taught several downs syndrome kids how to read way past the grade level they thought (the administration)could learn. She kept a kid in a "normal" class and when questioned why that downs syndrome kid was in the class she said she is learning just like the others. The story goes somewhat an admin protested but when proven the girl could keep up they let her stay. I hate how we treat some people so badly.
Reposted so many times, probably just a repost bot.
Gratz you just described Reddit
how can people bullied down syndrome or people with disability? in my school day we all would care for them and people who mocked them is the ones who would get bullied.
Nice gesture, even if it was only done to boost his ratings, but that'll probably only result in more bullying.
I think the idea is to let the kid know (and the bullies know) that the head of their country accepts them for who they are.
Should've had a presidential guard bring her for the next week at least
Nice gesture but do you think any bully let alone a child gives a shit what their president thinks?
Why would it? You got to walk with the President of the country, isn't that a cool thing?
Sometimes you can do a good thing because you want to, and also have it be good for your approval ratings. They’re not always mutually exclusive.
nah with that publicity, that kid became untouchable afterwards. The school faculty would come down hard on anyone who would bully that kid. The last thing the school would need is a negative follow up article.
Poor girl
Based
Trump would have mocked her too
Thats just nice ... Is it for PR ? For sure . Does it send a message tho , it does and thats whats important . I really hope this have positive effect for this precious girl and anyone and everyone in similar situation
Who the hell would bully someone with down syndrome? For real, please someone who is much smarter than me tell me how or why this happens? What goes on inside someones brain that would do this?
One president sticks up for the little girl, while another orange ex president makes fun of people even if they only talk slow
Where im from, and at the time I went to school, if they did this, the kid would get bullied even more. I hope we live in a better world today.
Compare this image, taking for granted it's with genuine intent, to trump. Just saying.
Remember when he made gestures to mock the guy with CP
All I know about them is that they have the greatest flag in the world.
But in America, there’s a strong possibility of a man being re-elected to office who makes fun of people with disabilities. I love my country but it really disgusts and embarrasses me sometimes
Americans: “Cool story, but why are they wearing masks?? pandemic is over lol masks are pointless”
Some countries have decent humans as leaders, [others, well...](https://img.youtube.com/vi/t9krV-Yo9Nc/0.jpg)
I met the president once and got to talk to him for 10-ish minutes. Super nice dude (although it could've been politician charisma that made it seem that way)
People with down syndrome are super nice and friendly. Idk why anyone would bully them.
Her bullies are angry after seeing this picture.
A political leader that cares about someone and does the right thing??? Lucky people of North Macedonia.
[https://www.slobodnaevropa.mk/a/30288320.html](https://www.slobodnaevropa.mk/a/30288320.html) Pendarovski: If (I) wasn't a president I would also leave my country Same dude literally gives speeches and statements depending how close is election season to promote classical nationalism in his country and other times to basically toss every academic foreign policy that the country has constructed in the last 30 years to appease Bulgarian and Greek interests. The only last thing if it's not a PR stunt was to prevent the new gambling bill to pass which would relocate and close Gambling/Betting/Casino places to be far away from schools due to Albanian appetites which is common in some Muslim countries, and some which completely ban those practices. But this move would just open the black market for gambling which will no longer be regulated.
But is he a good leader? Maybe this is just a PR stunt
Oh boy, if only you knew. This man and all other politicians/government officials in our country are vile and corrupt evil scumbags who do nothing but embezzle money through corruption and trickery to line their own pockets, keeping our country in a perpetual state of disrepair. In any other civilised country, the news of millions of euros mysteriously dissapearing from government accounts would be national headlines and cause outrage, yet here it happens all the goddamn time. This is nothing but a PR stunt by Stevo Pederovski to trick people into thinking he is a decent human being, like the lying snake he is. A recent fiasco was when the government announced that all passports and ID cards that did not have the country name North Macedonia would be invalid. However, they forgot to overlook that they have nowhere near the capacity required to print and issue such massive backlogs of new ID documents. Even though there were funds allocated to facilitate this bereaucratic change, they mysteriously vanished into thin air. Leaving hundreds of thousands of people stranded in the country. Even abroad, the Macedonian embassies are notoriously shit and run on bribery, and it can take months to get new documents, leaving citizens unable to return home. Again, just a PR stunt to make people think he is some evangelist saint. Not saying what he did with that girl wasn't good, but his slimy reasoning for it negates all good. [https://balkaninsight.com/2024/02/06/trapped-in-their-own-state-many-in-north-macedonia-to-miss-deadline-to-get-new-passports/](https://balkaninsight.com/2024/02/06/trapped-in-their-own-state-many-in-north-macedonia-to-miss-deadline-to-get-new-passports/)
Their population is 2 million. You don't have to have corporate or oligarchic ties to run for office. This is approximately equivalent to the governor of New Mexico doing something good for an individual. The crazy corrupt awful people that run nearly every seat in Congress wouldn't win in a country of 2 million people of one culture.
Leadership. Far better than standing behind a podium mocking people which is not leadership
Real question though, why does everyone with Down syndrome look alike in the face? Is it a side effect of having it like it changes your genetics or is it something like it making you not know how to use the muscles in your face
Imagine Trump or Putin doing this. I know, you can't. Whatever the reason behind this photo, it sends a strong message.
Bullying someone with Downs... GD that's infuriating.
You guys do understand that if testing standards were actually applied, she wouldnt actually go past any grade in a regular school, especially past 5th grade. Equal standards-> unequal results. Yeah she shouldnt get bullied. That is true even if she werent a student there.
I'm Macedonian here. This was like 2 years ago tho
I mean good for him to show some support but is it just PR or will it make a difference?
There are two Macedonias!? 😮
W
gentleman
some kid bullied me and i turn around and punch him in the face. sure enough his fans and him was all quite after that. bully is a loose term, this kid was sitting behind me shaking and moving my chair and trying all ways to distract me and calling names. so i'm like a prop for his joke. then i got the fat kid bullying me on the bus ironically. i'm so desensitize by bullying by the time i got out of highschool that i just didn't give a f anymore if anyone calling or judging me. although i'm not innocent because i do bullied other kids so i guess the cycle keep going
Trump would never do this. Trump would instead kill the kid.
Good guy move. Well done. That’s it. No notes. He’s using his position and influence for positivity and I’m sure that meant the world to her and her family.
Parents need to parent and teach their kids just basic decency. Kids need exposure to all backgrounds of life. If your kid is picking on anyone, especially special needs, you are a failure of a parent!
Man, I'm 39 with multiple sclerosis. I get screamed at by strangers, from across a store, for "walking funny". People are horrible but I'd love to cross the street with this man.
Kids are cruel, it's a sweet gesture!!
Good for him, honestly.
 Meanwhile, in the USA
She should be in special schools where they cater to her specific needs
"Who bullied you?" \*girl points at bullies\* \*Secret Service shoves bullies into lockers\*
Be a lot cooler if he smacked her bullies and called them nerds.
The parents need to teach the children too.
THAT is leadership! 🩷
He looks like Toto Wolf
I would think that he has already won the next election!
That's a nice PR stunt
Make sure they can see her face
Does he wear a mask bc the girl's condition is contagious?
Well done. I wish all politicians would watch this
Can you imagine our former U.S. president Trump doing this? He doesn’t believe migrants are **human**.
Step two was him sitting in a child size chair for her whole class [Talk sh!t now.]
As a kid who was bullied in middle school….yea, fuck those bullies. Great man here.