“Our struggles at school and home as left-handed children”
On International Left Handers Day, two of our Global Youth Ambassadors relive what it was like growing up in a right-handed world.
What do Barack Obama, Neil Armstrong, Marie Curie and Aristotle have in common? They are, or were, all left-handed.
About one in 10 of the world’s population are left-handed – and it can pose many challenges for children at school, such as using right-handed scissors or other classroom tools.
Today – on International Left Handers Day – two of our network of Global Youth Ambassadors tell us what it was like to grow up in a predominantly right-handed world.
Isaac Success Omoyele (Nigeria)
Growing up, my family tried to stop me from using my left hand but it wasn’t possible.
In school my classmates bullied me often and I was segregated most of the time. I felt bad using my left and I tried to use my right hand.
It took me a long time before I was able to be confident using my left. I gained confidence growing up, knowing how unique I am and how different I am too.
Now I am proudly a left-handed person.
Alina Edward (Pakistan)
Both my parents are right handers and, surprisingly, my brother and I turned out to be left handers. I remember back in school the majority of children were right handers and they considered me to have a hand of the devil.
I struggled with finding the right desk because most of the seats had a right side desk and that would give me trouble in writing and still does to this day.
Being a left-hander I also face trouble in using scissors and I’m really bad at cutting.
Due to immense pressure from home, my mum forced my brother and me to eat with our right hands. After a lot of struggle I eventually learned to eat that way but my brother still struggles.