"That's so retarded."

"I forgot my keys; I'm such a retard!"

"Stop that, you're acting like a retard."

Those three sentences are common in everyday speech. But, here's the thing: they shouldn't be. They may seem harmless seeing as words are just words, but they're not. The word retarded is not funny. It is not a joke. It is hurtful.

When I entered high school, I began to do volunteer work with the Special Olympics and other local organizations that deal with people with special needs. Before that, I sadly admit, I said retarded quite a bit.

I never thought twice about how it may make other people around me feel. That all changed once I was exposed to the "Spread the Word to End the Word" campaign. I learned about how harmful and hurtful that word was and completely obliterated it from my vocabulary.

I simply only refer to it as the "r-word" now. Ever since I was exposed to the campaign and the stories of those with intellectual disabilities, I have worked to help eradicate this word from the vocabulary of other people as well.

People with intellectual disabilities are not lesser than anyone else. They are worthy of love and respect. They are worthy of life. With that being said, why would anyone reduce another person to a single word?

These people are sisters, brothers, daughters, sons, artists, athletes and singers. Most importantly, they are people just like you and me. When you use the "r-word," you get rid of a person's sense of individuality. It breaks my heart when I hear people I have come to know and love tell me about how small and inferior they feel because someone called them, or their loved one, the "r-word."

It is not funny to say the "r-word." It does not make you cool. In fact, it makes you uncool. It makes you unwilling to accept one another's differences and uniqueness. How about you learn to respect people instead. Respect each other's differences. Respect each other's lives. Respect each other's abilities. Respect one another.

I cannot tell you what to do. I cannot control whether you say retarded. All I know is that I can try to tell you it is not a nice word to say to anyone, regardless of who they are or what they are capable of. Be careful what you say because you never know who is around you.