An Oklahoma pre-K teacher attempted to “cure” a four-year-old, left-handed boy from eternal damnation by quoting to him Christian superstitions from the Middle Ages, and forcing him to use his right hand.
The trouble began when Alisha Sands noticed her son using his right hand to do homework. “From picking things up to throwing things, to batting, to writing, to just coloring you’d do at home with him, he’s always, always used his left hand,” said Sands. “I just asked ‘Is there anything his teachers ever asked about his hands?’ And he raises this one and says this one’s bad.”
Sands sent her son’s teacher a note about the issue and only received an article describing old Christian folklore, including the superstition that left-handedness is evil:
Most children and adults do develop a hand dominance. Right-handedness is more common (70-90%) than left-handedness (8-10%).
In many western cultures, right-handedness was/is considered the “correct” or “right” hand to use, and left-handedness was unlucky or inauspicious. The word “sinister,” meaning left-sided, derives from various sources as early as the 15th century. There are numerous cultural examples of left-handedness being associated with the idea of wickedness. For example, the devil is often portrayed as left-handed, and people throw salt over their left shoulder to ward off the evil spirits that dwell there.
In Oklahoma it must be okay for teachers to discipline left-handed children as evil, because there was no punishment placed against the teacher. “There was no suspension of any kind. There was basically nothing done to this teacher,” Sands explained, “She told them she thought I needed literature on it.”
Sands said she is looking for another pre-K, and plans to file a complaint with the Oklahoma Board of Education.
For more on this story, visit Addicting Info Preschool Teacher Tells 4-Year-Old He’s ‘Evil’ And ‘Sinister’ Because He’s Left-Handed (VIDEO)
