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LEFT CAN BE RIGHT TOO
Has any one called you lefty or southpaw? Or told you that you were using the wrong hand? You are not alone. In fact, you are part of a minority group in a world dominated by right-handed people. About 15 percent of the world’s population is left-handed. Left-handedness is genetic: it runs in families. If you have a parent who is left-handed, you’ve have a 25 percentchance of being left-handed. There are more left-handed men than women. Upside down world: The world is set up for right-handers. It can be very frustrating for left-handers to learn basic skills such as writing, cutting with scissors and using a ruler to draw a line. If left-handers sits next to right-handed classmates, they end up bumping elbows as they write. It is a challenge for left-handers using a computer mouse and wind a wristwatch with the right hand. Forcing the right hand: Not so long ago, many people thought left-handers were wrong and clumsy. Many superstitious people thought being left-handed would bring bad luck. A hundred years ago,when left-handers went to school, it was not unusual for their teachers to tie their left hands behind their back and spank them if they used their left hands. That was common practice in a lot of cultures and societies. Left-handers can learn to write with their right hand if they are less than nine years of age. But they will still use their left hand for other activities such as eating, throwing a ball, or cutting. There are no advantages to switching hands, but there may be disadvantages, such as having difficulty knowing left from right, and even stuttering and stammering. Lefties and Baseball: A left-handed baseball player is called a southpaw. The term may have originated in the game of baseball in the United States. Ballparks are often designed so that batters face east. That way, the afternoon or evening sun does not shine in their eyes. This means that left-handed pitchers must throw with the hand (paw) that is on their south side. Special Day: Left-handers are accepted around the world and they even have their own day. In 1976 the organization Left-Handers International declared August 13 International Left-Hander’s Day. Why don’t all the right-handers celebrate this day with their left-handed friends by trying to use their left hand to do regular activities such as brushing your hair, writing and eating? Ask your teacher at school if you can have a left-hand awareness day. If you are right-handed, have a little more sympathy when you next see your“lefty” friends struggling to use their rigt hand. Give them some encouragement and if you are left-handed be proud, you are part of an exclusive club. Special Gadgets: Today there all kinds of gadgets for left-handers:
Left- Handers Hall of Fame:
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