Imagine if the little conveniences that assist you daily suddenly became inconvenient. Opening doors, walking up and down the stairs, or even reading a sign becomes much harder, and you just have to deal with it. This is how many disabled people feel every day, and it’s vital that we at Carter High School pay attention to the needs of the handicapped students and staff that go here. The fact that these people have to deal with trouble to do minor things is unfair, unlawful, and could be changed without any negative effects for the rest of us. With that being said, let’s explain why. First of all, it really isn’t fair that disabled people at school have a hard time doing simple tasks while others can do these things with ease. The fact that people with physical disabilities should have to work harder to simply open a door or go to another part of the school is very upsetting. If we found a way to add a handicap-friendly handle to our doors or provided another elevator at school, then things would be much easier for those people. In addition to the general argument based on morality, refusal to cater basic necessities to the disabled people at our school is technically against the law. In an article titled, “Many of America’s Schools Aren’t Fully Accessible for Students With Disabilities,” the author states that “The 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits handicap discrimination.” It is mentioned in the article that many schools disobey this law by not providing enough for the disabled/handicapped, as previously mentioned before. This disobedience is relatively common among schools, as the author also states that, “⅔ of U.S. public school districts have steep ramps, tight door vestibules, inoperable door handles, and other potential violations.” Some people at our school might say that we already have enough for the disabled currently attending our school, but even if we do, that might not always be the case. As a new generation of students comes to CHS every year, we may not always have enough for the disabled minority, since students with different disabilities may appear. There are also some problems currently with disabled accessibility at our school that some may not notice, such as: one elevator, tiny bathroom stalls (in most bathrooms), and no brail for signs. It is always good to be considerate to those that are a little dissimilar, which brings us to the last point: We can make permanent changes in the school to help those with physical hindrances without getting in the way of accessibility for the other people. This means that it would do no harm to help the students and staff that are a little bit different by adding extensions to the school for their benefit. Altogether, accessibility for the disabled could -and should- improve at our school to bring justice to the disabled, obey the law, and improve overall handicap life at Carter High School without taking away from the experiences of others.
Carter Corps News 