Press Release issued: 16 December 2010.
A forum of blind and partially sighted young people in Scotland will launch a national campaign today to raise awareness of what being young and living with sight loss is actually like.
They hope the campaign, called 'Stop and Stare', will help combat the isolation, exclusion and bullying that some forum members have experienced in school and on the street.
To kick it off, the Haggeye forum - set up by RNIB Scotland three years ago to represent young people aged 12 to 25 - will unveil a new digital resource-kit for schools at a launch event in Edinburgh's Festival Theatre this morning.
The kit includes a USB stick with audio testimonials from young people explaining their sight loss condition and how it impacts on their lives, a short audio-described video outlining how to guide someone who is blind or partially sighted, as well as general information about eye health.
Katrina Thomson (18) from Hawick was diagnosed with cancer of the eyes at six months old. Treatment with radiotherapy caused cataracts on the lenses of her eyes which, when removed, left her with difficulty in focusing on objects.
"Being visually impaired, I have always stood out from the crowd because my glasses are thicker than the average person's and I don't fit the typical stereotype," she explains.
"Verbal bullying has always been a problem for me and I have had to put up with it for as long as I can remember. I had always been told to shrug it off and not pay attention to the comments people made - which was all fair and well until I was able to understand the meaning of the insults.
"During my years a primary school I was accepted by my peers, as young children are more receptive to difference. But as soon as I went on to high school things changed. People started to make horrible comments towards me, simply because I was visually impaired. I just did as I was told, shrugged off the insults, until a girl made a comment towards me which was very hurtful. That's when I did something about it.
"I approached my headmaster and asked if I could address the school about visual impairment. I realised that the only reason people were bullying me was due to them being ignorant, and that wasn't necessarily their fault. There is not enough education about the topic of disability. After addressing the school there was no more bullying.
"Other Haggeye members had also come across how this lack of awareness affected people with sight loss, especially young people. We all felt we wanted to campaign to change this. After feeding back the positive experience from my school, Haggeye decided to make this the basis for our new campaign. We named it 'Stop and Stare' as we felt that when people passed us by all they did was stop and stare."
The 'Stop and Stare' message will be promoted throughout 2011. The campaign is the latest in a growing list of activities by the Haggeye forum, including a CD produced last year on how to engage with the Scottish Parliament, and a push to make more educational materials available in formats such as braille and audio.
Katrina added: "We hope that 'Stop and Stare' will make a huge impact and that people's opinions will change when they are aware of what living with sight loss is like. Haggeye has allowed us the opportunity to show that young people with sight loss can be very active members of the community who are determined not to be marginalised. We're looking forward to doing even more in 2011."
Last week, Haggeye was one of eight UK winners of the Philip Lawrence Awards. The awards, commemorating headmaster Philip Lawrence who was murdered outside his school in 1995, celebrate outstanding contributions in the community that challenge unfair negative stereotypes of young people. Over 200 groups applied.