People with disabilities are the largest population of minorities in America. Through K-12, children are prepared for many things before they graduate and enter the real world, but they are still jolted when they encounter people with disabilities. It is a normal occurrence for people to be born with or become disabled, yet it is not normalized. The lack of education regarding the very relevant history and existence of this population births hate, discrimination, and stereotypes. In order to combat those issues, educational institutions should be required to educate American youth about various disabilities.

     If children were taught about this population of our diverse world, they would grow up to be more understanding adults - adults who will become doctors, lawyers, police officers, business owners, security officers, waitresses and waiters, and cashiers to name a few. Can you imagine a police officer being cognizant of the possibility that a suspicious person may have autism,  schizophrenia, or some other form of psychosis well before career training? Imagine children who start off as early as pre-kindergarten seeing images of people - young and old - using mobility aids and having other physical conditions. Imagine the positive impact of pairing those images with age appropriate information to better help them understand the world around them. Imagine them being presented with similar but more advanced lessons with visuals upon entering middle school, another lesson before high school, and then assigned to research a disability before graduation and entering college. The positive impact that would have on our country would be immense.

     With this education, people staring, asking rude questions, and bullying would decrease. America’s disabled population has a movement, they have a history, and an existence that should be included in the teaching of American history. I am petitioning our city, state, and federal governments to implement lessons about the disabled population in the world, their journey, their history, and their existence in general. This is for the betterment of our citizens.