Advocacy for Left Handers
Monica Alston Carr
LIS 600 Foundations of Library and Information Science
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
October 23, 2013
Instructor: Beth Martin
Introduction
The most recent statistics show that
approximately 10 to 15 percent of the US and
British populations are left-handed—about 30
million people in the United States alone.
Problem
Due to the lower percentage of left-handers versus right-handers in the world,
left-handers must often adapt their behavior in order to function with day-to-day
tasks.
Why is it Important?
Some scholars note that left handers may be one of the last unorganized
minorities in society because they have no collection power and no real
sense of common identity. Additionally, left handers are often
discriminated against by social, educational, and religious institutions.
Why is it an Issue?
Prejudice against left handedness is deep-rooted and universal.
There’s no doubt that left handers have had a rough time in the past.
Many were forced to use their right hand, and across many cultures
there’s a deep bias towards right being good and left bad.
Studies and Research
The following statistics were captured by lefthandedchildren.org about the different
problems left-handed people experienced during their early school years:
Handwriting: 98% of their contributors wrote left-handed and a lot reported
handwriting problems.
88%- smudging work
71%- aching hand
38%- writing slowly
37%- aching back
Clashing elbows at shared desk: 83% of people reported as a problem, but only
34% of the total were allowed to move
Teacher training colleges fail to pay serious attention to left-handedness even
today. Left handed six year olds generally have to find out for themselves how to
master handwriting. Most manage it so successfully, despite all the problems…
in no time at all they can write as well and as quickly as their right-handed
classmates.
- Rik Smits, author of The Puzzle of Left-handedness
Addressing the Problem
1) Parents, teachers, and students can find out who makes desk-buying decisions at your school;
for K-12 schools, ask your principle or school superintendent who makes desk-buying policy and
decisions. Universities and colleges often have a furniture expert either in the purchasing
department or architects' office, who works closely with classroom committees who make these
decisions (Holder, 2003).
2) If your school doesn’t stock supplies or unable to order supplies for left-handers- you can purchase your
pens, pencils, and notebooks from a school supply store within your area. There’s a growing awareness of
increasing availability of left-handed supplies. You can purchase special pencil grips for left and right-handed
people- by affixing these rubber grips to standard pens or pencils to increase comfort and efficiency.
Conclusion
When it comes to education, the left-handed minority is again discriminated against; teachers are trained to
deal with the handicapped student, to communicate with the student for whom English isn’t their first
language, to integrate the mentally challenged child into the classroom, to enrich the experience of the
culturally deprived child, and to accept the cultural and religious differences of various special groups of
children in their care. No additional educational training for left-handers; they are told to adjust their
behavior to match that of the right-handed majority, and when they fail they are ignored and left to struggle
along on their own. They are given lower grades because their handwriting is messy when they have not been
given the individualized instruction that would allow them to learn to write correctly and neatly (Coren, pg.
277).
If left-handers fail to stand up for themselves, we have seen that they will continue to be ignored by the righthanded majority, including teachers, engineers, designers, and others that should serve them (Coren, pg. 280).
Works Cited
Coren, Stanley. 1992. The Left-Hander Syndrome: The Causes and Consequences of Left-Handedness. Detroit, MI: Free Press.
Coren, Stanley. "The Trouble with Lefties." The Atlantic (n.d.): n. pag. Abstract. (1992): n. pag. Print.
ly, Jane M. 2001. Loving Lefties: How to Raise Your Left-Handed Child in a Right-Handed World. New York, NY: Pocket Books
2005. A Left-Hand Turn around the World: Chasing the Mystery and Meaning of All Things Southpaw. Cambridge, MA: Perseus
dia of Special Education: A Reference for the Education of Children, Adolescents, and Adults with Disabilities and Other Excepti
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ol Experiences Survey Analysis of Results." Results of Survey on Left Handed Childrens' School Experiences. www.lefthandedc
sbery, Carolyn. “Left Hand, Left Brain: The Plot Thickens.” The DANA Foundation. October 1, 2005. Accessed: June 14, 2011.
Douglass-Fliess, Sue. "Tips for Teaching a Left-handed Child." Education.com. N.p., n.d. Web.
Hadhaz, Adam. "Life's Extremes: Left- vs. Right-Handed." (n.d.): n. pag. www.livescience.com. Nov. 2011.
K. "Handedness Research Institute | Fair School Desks." Handedness Research Institute | Fair School Desks. www.handedness.o
Shipman, Judee. "How Lefties Write." Education.com. N.p., n.d. Web.
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acts about Left-Handedness & Left-Handed People: n. pag. www. facts.randomhistory.com/facts-about-left-handedness.html Web