09.27.2007 = JAYPLAY
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Left-handers face adversity in a right-handed world.
By Daniel Reyes
America is a country of great diversity, but that diversity ends with the handedness of a person. From household appliances to scissors and American cars, the world is not left-hand friendly.
Stanley Coren, Ph.D., professor at the University of British Columbia, and author of The Le-fhander Syndrome: the Causes and Consequences of Le-fHandedness, gathered information with colleagues over the course of 20 years that shows left-handers are more likely to live shorter lives than right-handers. He offers two explanations; the first is the way the world is designed.
For centuries, left-handers were deemed to be "cursed" or in league with the devil and as a result, numerous exorcisms were performed, Coren says.
Even in today's intellectually and technologically advanced society, it is not uncommon to hear stories of left-handed children being forced to use their
In addition, Coren says left-handers are likely to face more health issues in their lifetimes, such as asthma and eczema, as well as major issues including Graves' disease, Lupus and Type I diabetes.
"The world is set up for the safety and convenience of right-handers," Coren says. "The big power tools, the ones that can kill you, have the safety switches on the right-side of the panel."
"You're more than twice as likely to be left-handed if mom had difficulty delivering you or there were problems during the pregnancy." Coren says.
Coren says he and his colleagues collected data pertaining to accidents at home, the workplace, during sporting events and while driving. Their results suggest left-handers do in fact die younger.
The second reason has to do with a person being born left-handed.
ILLUSTRATION BY CATHERINE COQUILLETTE
right hands.
During his grade school days in Catholic school, Neil Probst, Wichita senior, says the nuns would abide by the Church's teachings regarding lefties.
"The nuns would force me to write with my right hand," Probst says. "It was painful. They slapped my hands with a ruler. They tried for a year, then they finally just gave up."
What was once a nuisance to the nuns Probst last used to his advantage when it came to arm wrestling. Probst says as a kid he would start off right-handed and after his opponent won, he would ask if they wanted to try left-handed and then he would always win.
Arm wrestling aside, Coren says the data collected points to some interesting educational trends. Left-handers tend to struggle when it comes to things language based, because southpaws encounter more problems with dyslexia and other reading disabilities.
While in first grade, Carly Halvorson. Overland Park junior, encountered a situation similar to Probst where she was approached by a school employee who was intent on making her use her right hand.
"We were practicing writing out letters and printing our names and some woman stood over me and watched me write with my left hand," Halvorson says. "She took the pencil out of my hand and stuck it in my right hand, saying it was much easier to write that way."
"She told me I'd have to stay in during recess and practice with
Halvorson says that every time the woman would return, the pencil would be back in her left hand. She says the woman got so frustrated she threatened Halvorson with the one thing all kids, handedness aside, can relate to.
my right hand," Halvorson says.
Fortunately, the woman left soon after and Halvorson's teacher told her it was all right to use her left hand.
In fact, more people should want to be left-handed, because of the commonly believed myth that left-handers are smarter than right-handers. However, Coren says that myth is not necessarily true.
"Although you find more left-handers that are mathematical geniuses and in fields like architecture, you still find lefthanders with low intelligence," Coren says.
For Probst and Halvorson, if the attempts to convert them into right-handers had been successful, they could have been met with dire consequences. Forcing a left-hander to use his right hand can be detrimental to a lefty's health, Coren says.
"You haven't turned him into a right-hander; you just turned him into a left-hander who uses his right-hand." Coren says. "Changing a kid's hand is going to set him up with a higher
probability of accidents, because his reflexes with the right hand are always going to be slower than with the left hand."
However, there is one lefty myth Probst says has some fact behind it.
"You've got to grow up to be a pitcher." Probst says. "Righ-t handed batters have a lower batting average against lefty pitchers."
If a career in the major leagues isn't in sight for all southpaws, a longer life may soon be.
"Because of the research, those
who design the big equipment that can kill people are starting to take into account handedness," Coren says."That's already starting to cut back on accidents."
Coren says that in recent years the difference between left and right-handed accident related deaths has decreased.
"it'd be nice if more of it were done faster," Coren says. "But we're on the road; things will be better. Hopefully when my young son is my age, they'll find considerably less of a difference."