Using cutlery for eating is an area that causes a lot of confusion and inconsistency for both left- and right-handers:
Right-handers- traditionally eat with a knife and fork using the knife in their right and fork in the left, so they actually feed themselves with their left hand. (in America, some people change fork hand as they go along, cutting with their right then switching the fork into the right to lift the food to their mouth).
When they are using just a spoon, e.g. for eating soup, they change over and use it in their right hand, feeding themselves with that right hand.
When they are using just a knife, e.g. for cutting bread, they are consistent and keep it in their right hand.
Left-handers - we know from our own surveys that 74% of left-handers eat with a knife and fork in the "right-handed" way - with the fork in their left hand and feeding themselves with the left hand.
When they are using just a spoon, 95% use it in their LEFT hand for that as well, so we continue FEEDING ourselves with our dominant left hand.
When left-handers are using just a knife, e.g. for cutting bread, 88% move it into their left hand.
How does this happen?
It makes sense to use your dominant hand, the one that gives you most control, for delicate and complicated tasks, like cutting something with a knife. When the knife is used on its own, like cutting bread, this all works as expected with left-handers using the bread knife ion their dominant left and right-handers using the right.
But when we complicate it by using a second tool, like a fork, it all gets inconsistent! Right-handers think the knife is the most important tool and keep it in their right hand, while left-handers switch the knife to their right and think that the feeding tool, the fork, is the more important and deserves the use of their dominant hand.
How do we choose which way round to eat?
Is there some inbuilt preference for eating, like writing, or do we learn it from our parents? is the high percentage of left-handers who eat "right-handed" because they just copy their parents? (around 75% of left-handers have two right-handed parents and only 2% have two left-handed parents).
Our own experience would strongly say no! Keith and Lauren are both left-handed but eat "right-handed" and their son Tom is the same. So when daughter katie came along and turned out to be RIGHT-handed despite all the family genetics and influence, which way would she eat? Would she do what is natural for a right-hander AND the same as the rest of the family? NO! - she has always eaten LEFT-HANDED.
So we really don't know the cause of eating choices and it does seem to be completely inconsistent overall, though very strongly embedded in each individual, seemingly just as much as writing. We have had some email correspondence recently with LHC member Catherine that makes this very clear:
Catherine originally posted a comment on our website saying:
"My son (nearly 8), is mostly right-handed, but eats with his knife and fork the left-handed way. I have recently found out that they are forcing him to eat the ‘correct’ way at school meal times. I was shocked and outraged, but they claim that it is for his own good…. Do you have any evidence of this being harmful to a child (in the same way that forcing a change in writing handedness can be)? He complains of tiredness and headaches, and has started developing a stammer and tics. He is also highly uncoordinated and regularly spills food down clothes when eating this way. I want to force the school to stop, so need some supporting evidence. Please help!"
Keith replied:
The symptoms you mention ARE similar to those that can arise from changing writing hand and while I have not seen any research or evidence about changing eating hands I guess it comes to the same thing. It may also just be that he is stressed from being pressurised by his teachers and that is causing the problems rather than anything to do with brain function”. I would definitely advise letting him eat whichever way seems natural to him. It will be very interesting to see if his symptoms go away when he is allowed to go back to eating his natural way.
and we recently received a wonderful follow-up from Catherine:
Thank you so much for emailing me. Since all this happened, we have told our son to eat with whichever hand he feels most comfortable holding his fork in, and his tics / stammer have all but gone. He is calm and unstressed now. However, the school are not happy about this and claim that eating with your cutlery the 'right way round' is part of their social development programme. We are actively trying to dispute this and any thoughts you have about this or any research or supporting evidence would be most welcome.
We would be very interested in your experience of changing eating hands and any effect it had so please add your comments below.
Update
We wrote an article about eating left-handed recently and included a comment from one of of our readers who was battling her son's school because they were forcing him to change hands and eat right-handed. We had a lot of feedback on the story and it has now been picked up by the national press with an article in the Daily Mail online version here.
A complaint was lodged after an angry parent said staff at Kersey Primary School near Ipswich, Suffolk made his two left-handed children switch their knives and forks to eat in the standard right-handed manner, with the knife in their right hand and fork in their left. Teachers told him that swapping the cutlery helped 'improve dexterity' and was part of a child's 'personal, social and health education'. [really??!]
Does changing to eat right handed REALLY improve dexterity?
Well... in a strict sense it might, because "dexterity" actually means
effective use of the right hand! (dexter being "right" in Latin)
The school has admitted encouraging pupils to eat in a 'conventional manner', but denied putting pressure on the children to eat right-handed. An independent inspector has looked into the complaint and found that the school was doing nothing wrong, but the father has now lodged an appeal against that decision and asked the school's governors to look into it further.
The father said he was being supported by fellow parents at the school and we at the Left Handers Club think it is entirely wrong to force a child to change their normal way of eating. If you agree, please add a comment below.
Comments 405
Whats happened to the etiquette of good manners by eating with fork in left hand and cutting with knife! (Not including left handers in this) ! Are schools condoning it?
As I appreciate things I learned here I have not seen how I function and am curious..when I eat I hold the fork in my left and cut with my right and go right to my mouth with my left when I write I hold the pen in my left hand...pretty much everything else I do is with my right hand only b(cutting with scissors, throwing a ball..in boxing I box with my right hand being the dominant one, etc.) what would I be called?
Later When I queried my mother after seeing a leftie eat left-handed, her response was she had forgotten I was left-handed when I 'came to table' and had set my place as 'normal' and anyway it looked awkward and would draw attention to myself, making me socially unacceptable.
Many of my school friends who did well in their extra-curricular activities were invited to luncheon with their patron, who often was a member of the royal family, so etiquette and manners meant everything in those days. (I have now live many years overseas, have thigs changed?)
Eating right-handed comes quite naturally as I am feeding myself with my left hand and have less chance of injuring myself as I would if I tried to using my right hand, as hand-to-mouth coordination was abysmal.
I am most definitely in my right-hemisphere, I am left-eye, left-hand and left-foot dominant. I do have one major problem and that is ballroom dancing, with the exception being the Viennese Waltz - a reverse turn no sweat. For those unfamiliar with ballroom dancing that is a fast 'spin' to the left which can be repeated continuously around the the ballroom floor, other than that I am literally have two left feet.
My suggestion to parents is let the child make their own choices without any influence. Both hands should be free so the child is not unintentionally forced into using the non-dominant hand by mistake. Once the dominant-and non-dominant hand patterns have been established they should be set in concrete and no one has the right to interfere with that child's decisions.
To day there is no stigma attached to being left-handed so let nature take its course, and please note, teaching your child to be ambidextrous or mixed-handed is the worse thing you can do to them. Latest research reveals it could lead to more problems than coercing a child to permanently use their non-dominant hand!
All my life I have naturally eaten with fork in right hand and knife in left. None of my family do this.
I regard myself as right-handed because the right is my dominant hand. I can do very little with my left other than using it to hold things, thus supporting the dominant right.
Also I have tried wearing my watch on left hand...I just can't, it doesn't feel natural. (A nightmare like driving on the right).
How would the right handers feel if forced to use their left hands?! Shocked.
I remember my mother saying that i have always eaten with the fork in my right hand and the knife in my left, I concur i still do this today. They too tried changing me to the "normal" way when i was younger but started having a lot of issues including spilling food.
As soon as my mother let me eat the other way I had no issues, I stopped spilling food.
Best,
Eddie
It always seemed logical to me to keep the fork in my right hand, and I've never had a problem with my left hand using the knife (although sometimes the serrations are on the wrong side when cutting tough meat). Primary school tried to 'correct' me but I stood my ground.
I cut with my left and fork in the right ,but then swap to eat using fork in left hand
Even now ,although i know my left from right , don't ask me directions, as i automatically will send you left , i knit ,crochet and sew left handed , which just means, i follow the pattern they just turn out reversed , ie : follow the pattern for left side and it is in fact the right side , and vice versa .
I do have one tip for you though if you are trying to teach some one who uses the opposite hand to you , sit them in front of you and let them "mirror " you
If this is wrong why is a side plate always laid on the left in place settings?
Rod (80)
Anyone else do this ritual?
Steve
we have taken her out to eat since she was a baby in restaurants etc and never have a problem with eating or behaviour , today she found herseld embarrased in public and crying . i cant tell you how angry i am . it is a form of dicrimination for being different and i also informed the school we were not in the dark ages where we forced childrens natural habits to be changed. i am a governor at the school too so i am looking forward to my reply from the school
Always intrigued and fascinated with anything to do with left handedness.
Kind regards
Claire
Sean
While working and attending school a majority of desks and various objects are designed for right handed people. I understand that this helps the schools and companies because a majority of people are right handed.
My sister and I have learned to be more ambidextrous with our lives. I have noticed that right handed people are not able to adapt as well.
I have always found it interesting watching people and how they approach situations.
Michael (from "the States")
How ridiculous, surely the child should be able to eat however they need too. On an entirely separate note, I do like that the school eat at a table with cutlery - not something we do here in Aus, but we do have a very different lunch with students all bringing their own.
Here is a kind of funny situation - My grandson got a new laptop and brought it over to me to set up. Without thinking right or left, I accidentally set it up for a left-handed person!! He brought it back, thinking something was wrong! I took it over to the guy that works on mine and after a few minutes he figured out what I did. Boy did I feel silly. I know he is right handed!!
Most mice are ambidextrous these days anyway. They work perfectly well in the left hand, as the name suggests. I'm awkward, and switch which hands I'm using as I go along, so I have to have an ambi mouse. :)
I played Football left footed
Walking left foot forward
But when i reel its right handed and hold rod in right hand if freshwater fishing ,but its odd a right handed person if sea fishing with a multiplier reel will use the right hand for reeling and the left hand holding the rod ! i do to , perhaps its because the right handed gear is what my dad made me use , so again over time its stuck in.
I play Cards held right handed , my brother who is solid left handed holds cards the wrong way up.
Scissors , must have left handed or i over or under cut , i cannot do a circle cut out neatly
Writing with felt pen or ink pen , a total smudged effort, alwas has been
Knives , what a pain , meat end up thin bit at top and a wedge at bottom
Bread , again same nightmare.
Ruler , i prefer left handed rulers.
Reading , i am sure books and newspapers are all wrong.
IPAD , sweep to the right , as you have to.
Samsung Phone , sweep up , a great help
Accounts books , wrong way round.
Pill boxes wrong way round , i always tighten , same with lids on drink
Turnstiles : why can i not go in the other way round ?
Toilet reels , always on wrong wall
Hot and cold taps , no uniformity
printed cups, wrong way round or handle is !
laptop, latch wrong way round
pencil sharpener , totally wrong way round , always do it wrong
Fish knives , i am sure are the wrong way round.
Fridge doors , i want to open it opposite to my right handed wife, so the door opens to the right in her favour!i find myself leaning around the door to get a beer!
similar , she like the toaster against a right handed wall, i find that a nightmare i am in the way to use left hand , same as the microwave the door opens to the left , its a nightmare to use!
Ice cream and sweets wrapped the wrong way round!
Even up wrapping a takeaway wrapped by a right handed person , its the wrong way round!
desks , i hate siting at a right handed desk with a wall on left hand side up to desk, it feels claustraphobic.
Shirts , buttons were they designed by an idiot?
tins, i need to get a left handed tin opener to try , i wreck a tin regularly with a standard tin opener.
Sausages i am sure when i cut them i always undo the twist !
i am still finding problems at 61 but at least we drive on the left!
I am also ambidextrous although not so much now as I was as a youth. I use both hands equally well when eating and using utensils. I used to write with both hands backwards so it could be seen in a mirror. Can't do that anymore. Takes too much concentration.
My advice to those young parents with young children. DO NOT let anyone change your kids EVER. Fight with all that is within you for your children. Let them be the way they are. They do not need to be 'corrected' or made 'normal'. These so-called teachers need to see the light about us lefties. We are the normal ones.
I 'suffered' being forced to write with my right hand when i was in Infant school and my writing was atrocious. But at that early age I thought up the ruse of of being "puzzled" over what I was trying to do, and was always in a 'paused' position, pencil in my right had as the Teacher came down the isle between the desks, and as soon as she had gone further away I would switch back and write with my left hand. My Mother spoke to someone in the School because the pressuring ceased.
As far as eating is concerned, most people know I am left-handed and I 'chide' them for feeding themselves the wrong way round as they are right handed. I tell them that I feed myself correctly for a left-hander by using my left hand to put food into my mouth, so why do they have to be so shallow and just 'copy' me and not be their own person? Most of them have never considered the matter from that point of view before.
I saw something in my local restaurant last week which I had never seen before. A girl a few tables away used her left hand to drink her soup but when the main course arrived she cut the food with her knife in her left hand but used her right to put the food in her mouth. She obviously had more control over her knife with her left hand, but not for manipulating the food once it was on the fork. Very interesting.
No one else in my family was left-handed. My Parents and two sisters were/are all right-handed. However, my wife, right handed, and i have twin girls and one is left- and the other is right-handed. Funny old world we live in!
Regards,
David
I have to make concessions already when determining where to sit at the table so I don't constantly bump elbows with others. My consideration for that should be more than adequate for you to leave me alone and let me use my left hand to eat.
Be happy they know how to use a knife and fork period.
Being left handed myself and one that likes to entertain My biggest issue is setting the table... I never remeber which side what is meant to go in sooooo.I set it how I eat then go around and switch the knives and forks so everyone else is happy....
Duncan
Whenever anybody does notice(which isn't often) they assume I've picked it up from my mother as she is left handed, but, she eats the right handed way.
As long as you are eating nicely who cares which hand you're using your knife and fork in.
What a load of rubbish. Traditionally the table is laid fork left, knife right, if you want your child to be singled out then you are on the right track. Any formal meal, even in ordinary restaurants this is how the place setting is laid. Changing this will not change your child just challenge them, like life it's self will do making them stronger. At least the school is not making them change there dominent hand to write, now there's a problem you could worry about.
And if that school is forcing kids to switch their utensils to improve dexterity, I would tell them that I assume they must doing the same thing with right handed kids as well then who would learn the same dexterity the other way around - Just leave them alone and let them eat how they're comfortable, as well as write and anything else that their fellow righty classmates might be doing 'backwards' :o) It's already hard enough for us to navigate a right handed world.
In 1985 (now reception class) I was forced to knit right handed dispite being able to knit left handed (my mothers left handed friend had taught me) because in class support and parent helpers felt they couldn't help me if I got stuck. My mother (right handed) was incensed about it then and still is! By the way I still can't knit even now (aged 34) due to constantly getting mixed between left and right handed knitting.
Good luck with your complaint I hope it gets taken as seriously as it should have been taken right from the start.
Best wishes to you and your sons
Maria (left handed)
P.S. Please let everyone know how you get on
When it came to knitting I had to teach myself as the righties in the family could not work out how to teach me. When I was growing up there were not too many resources for left handers. Left handed scissors simply had the handles changed and the blades were the same as for right handers. Now I have a set of truly left-handed scissors, cutting is so much easier. If only I could get a left-handed cake fork.
As it happens I am a 'leftie' who holds his knife and fork, plays drums, cricket and golf (both badly) in a right handed style. However that is what works for me and I have never been forced to do so.
While about 8-9 years old while having a school photo taken of me painting, the photographer said that I needed to hold the paintbrush 'in the proper hand'. My parents responded by refusing to buy the photographs. As a result I felt supported and validated. In my view the school are exceeding any authority in their stance.
I'm just adding this in as a follow up to a comment I made a couple days ago on here. In schools everyone is always talkin about how every child
Learns different and has these needs and this and that and needs to be met. So why isn't handed ness part of that? I was super lucky that my kindergarten teacher was left handed and taught me how to turn my paper when I started writing. She also gave me a social pencil grip for left handed people. I still have it somewhere by the way. Why isn't this part of what teachers are taught? They have trainings for everything else. I substitute teach and whenever I see someone else who's left handed I always point it out. I make it seem really cool and try to get them as excited as I am about being left handed. We learn that some people are visual learners some are auditory and some are kinaesthetic. So why isn't being left handed added in there some way?
That aside, children shouldn't be forced to swap hands. I think it's more important that children can actually use cutlery, no matter what hand is using which item. as long as they're not throwing food around or starving themselves, who cares.
As a 74-year old left-hander, I was luckily never pressured by my right-handed parents, nor by anyone at schools when growing up in England. (Except that the ink well was always on the right side of the school desk!!) And I've not heard of there being any issues for my 13-year old second granddaughter who - of the three grandkids - is the left handed one. But we live in America - on the "liberal" West Coast!!
However, both Emma and I tend to gravitate to the left side of a desk or a table when sitting with others who are right-handed. It's a long-established "survival" technique! In reading comments down below, it was interesting to see what happened to the girl who was moved to the left side of what appears to have been a double school desk.
I think when you're a leftie you learn pretty quickly to adapt to your surroundings.
one. tell the school to leave them be.
fellow lefty, facing the daily challenge!
I am shocked at the arrogance of this child's teachers, although less shocked than I would have been if I hadn't experienced similar arrogance myself, and I offer two bits of advice.
1. When you write to any teacher in the school, copy the letter to the chairman of the Education Committee at the town hall and send both the original and the copy by special delivery. They'll usually reply then. (Until I tried that, the school did not bother replying to my letters.)
2. My dad, who was a mild mannered man and by no means a militant, told me on my first day at school that if any teacher tried to make me write right handed I was to stop whatever I was doing and, silently and without explanation, leave the school and come home. I urge you to pass this advice to the child.
Regards
Ken Johnson BA MSc PGCE DipEurMktg
My Mother stepped in did not allow this to happen. Parents need to take hold of these situations and demand that their children have the freedom to use their God given dominant hand and stop trying to indoctrinate them.
Freedom to Lefties.
As a parent governor at my sons school I am appalled they would try and change how a child holds their cutlery. Does it really matter. Shame on the school.
I always wear my watch on my right wrist, because I am too clumsy to be able to fasten it with my right hand on the left wrist.
Now my 3 year old grandson is showing left-handedness and his parents (my daughter) are trying to get him to color, write, etc. with his right hand and boy did I get all in their face over it! It's like trying to change a caucasian into chinese....it simply cannot be done and it has nothing to do with dexterity. If I were that little boy's parents I would sue the school,,,,especially naming the stupid teachers....
Personal, social and health education (PSHE) is all about teaching children and young people how to make the best personal choices in life so they have the best chances to achieve the best possible outcomes for themselves/safeguard themselves etc. To force a child to eat right handed goes against the very principle of this.
Don't these bullying teachers ever consider how they might feel if they were forced to do something they didn't want to?! Do they every consider how someone could cope if they lost the use of one hand and then had to learn how to use the other one? They must be very blinkered as well as controlling!
Both my parents were right handed and as far as I know my relations were too. However a teacher cousin of mine learnt to write with both hands and found that very useful when teaching a boisterous class and drawing their attention to what she was writing on the blackboard. I decided to learn to write with my right hand - it took a long, long time and needed repeated practise - but I can now write and draw with both hands. Thanks, Mum!
Don't let anyone interfere with your children's' abilities!!
I found this article and topic of eating left-handed or right-handed very interesting, especially given my cultural and social milieu.
I live in Pune, India, and my 8 year old daughter is left-handed. Traditionally, in the Indian culture, eating left-handed is not done. Infact, till very recently, being left-handed was not an easy way to be at all. Pushing children to change their orientation was infact more common than enabling them to follow their natural handedness. Left-handed stationery and tools are mostly unavailable, and for my own daughter, I request friends and family to get back stuff from their visits to the US or UK.
However, in all fairness, there has been a change in attitude of late. Children are encouraged to be their natural self, but eating still remains a grey area in many homes.
While my daughter has never even been asked to use her right hand once we all realized she's left-handed, I do see raised eyebrows when people see her use her left hand for eating. You see, in the Indian culture, the left hand is not used for eating or offering prayers because it has traditionally been used for rather "discreet" actions like cleaning up after using the washroom!!!!
Given such a strong cultural habit, it becomes very difficult for parents to figure out how to balance tradition with helping your child do what's easy and natural for them!
What comes as a surprise to me is that -- for whatever different reasons -- low tolerance or acceptance of eating left-handed does not happen only here!! No matter why, the fact remains that we seem to have a very generic attitude of labeling what the majority does as "right" :)
I think that Catherine and anyone else whom have been told by a school that it is 'the conventional way' to eat in this manner should tell them to try eating in reverse. I'm sure it won't take them long to realise how very awkward, unnatural and stressful it is...
Steve
Personally I do not see what difference eating left or right handed makes - I am impressed these primary school children are capable of using cutlery . . . . not necessarily the case in the school I work in. Children may be encouraged to try using the opposite hand to do anything (writing, throwing, using cutlery) but they should not feel under pressure to do so. The hand used is instinctive not a choice - I would not chose to be left handed as I have to do so many things backwards which can be very tricky.
In my very first class room the teacher seemed to assume everyone was right handed. She explained how to place the paper at the proper angle -- for right handed students. I simply placed my paper the opposite angle. I printed the same way the right handed students printed but with the paper turned opposite. I always printed and wrote "properly" -- with my left hand.
I have since read that to encourage students to hold the hand straight and write properly it is helpful to use a wrist brace [ like people use for bowling ] to keep from bending or twisting the wrist.
All of my life I have just done things left handed. Once when I took golf lessons, the instructor said I had to use right handed clubs -- because he could not teach me left handed! I told him "You just teach! I will translate to left handed!"
You teach and I will translate works well for just about everything. It also teaches one to find creative solutions to everything in life.
This is about eating and what hand the student uses. I think the same rule should apply: let the kid use whatever hand feel comfortable. What is the big deal?
Having been punished for writing left handed at school, as an adult I do not accept preduduice for being left handed and challenge attitudes and behaviour towards others and myself.
Fight them all the way.
Colin
I think every individual should do things the way they are most comfortable. Who made up these rules, anyway??? Right handed people, no doubt!!! LOL…
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Also, whatever we may wish, it _is_ a right-handed world, and there are _some_ situations where the ability to eat "conventionally" saves time, comment, and - if you like - prejudice. (It's not _always_ beneficial to "look for a fight".)
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FWIW, I'm LH, I eat RH I _think_ because that's how I was brought up (born 1960), and yes, I _do_ tend to tear (pull with the fork at right angles to the knife blade) rather than cut, though I do cut a bit. (And am hopeless at cutting, e. g. bread, possibly because of the knives used - and no, I haven't tried LH ones.) But I have occasionally tried the other way round, and it just "feels" wrong. I'm sure that is to do with being used to it, and I would learn if I tried, but to be honest I don't find it enough of a problem to either try, or to make a fuss about it.
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I feel that sometimes - not saying that's the case here - parents transfer their own anxiety/anger/whatever onto the child, possibly even unconsciously.
Attitude is everything ............
In that situation, then, how does eating "conventionally" serve as a "better" option? (And what IS "conventionally," for that matter, when even right-handed people may eat "the left-handed way"?) Clearly, this idea of "better" is strictly to soothe the squeamish insecurities of others, but I have to wonder why I should be forced to treat my handedness as some aberration when it has NO lasting impact on the lives of observers. Why is my life being policed so closely by outsiders? My handedness is not their concern!
Of course, I concede that in actuality I am (currently) in no way obligated to force myself to dine in a fashion I am not comfortable with, and fortunately no one in my life has attempted to "correct" me, gently or otherwise (that I recall, at least). However, I also have the benefit of being almost thirty years old now and more than capable of understanding that there is nothing wrong with me simply because I happen to use my left hand for most things. But these "suggestions" should not be applied to primary-school children, who are easily influenced and may not be prepared to stand up for themselves against an authority figure when their parents never saw a reason to bring the topic up. After all, is it so unreasonable for parents to believe handedness is so minor a thing as to not need to be addressed, and then be alarmed when their children tell them that their teacher "suggests" in so many words that their inborn handedness is some sort of defect needing repair?
Honestly, I am all for this "improved dexterity" concept . . . IF ALL children are encouraged to switch the hands with which they do things, regardless of which hand is dominant. If, however, it's only the left-handed children who are being "encouraged," then I call BS, and see no overreaction on the part of the parents of the children in question. They have a right to ask why their children are being singled out.
And no, I don't buy the "it's a right-handed world" argument. If right-handed children were encouraged to use their left hands the same way left-handed children are encouraged to use their right hands, then the world would be far less right hand-oriented simply because there would be a greater understanding and acceptance of so minor a difference; the particulars of left-handedness would linger in peoples' minds, and by extension be better accommodated than it currently is, both socially and technologically.
This school in Ipswich is very short sighted and could be construed as being over the top PC in the way they go about teaching there pupils, they need to get over it and learn to hack left handers in their school, my primary school did and my senior school did as well as my college I went to in Leicester did.
The use of force is totally unacceptable by this school and should be ashamed of itself.
With my own children I put a spoon into their left hands without thinking, and from the earliest age they simply put it down and picked it up with the right hand. Handedness is not a learnt trick, it is built in.
Tell your kids to eat as they please. And the school Governor to f... o..!
Find better education setting for your kids. They are being cheated.
Having said that I am delighted that it is now possible to have left handed scissors as my poor thumbs used to hurt with right handed scissors.....and don't get me started on old fashioned ink pens....splatter, splatter splatter...my work was always a mess...until biros came along...thank goodness.
That being said, whenever we go out to eat (I live in the states so I'm not shure how restruants place sliverware in England) typically the silverware is rolled up together in the napkin and placed on the right side. The first thing I do when I sit down is move it over to the left side. I remember once a waitress moved it over to the right side and I moved it back. She was about to move it over when I informed her that I was lefthanded and her tip was in danger.
Left handed people like myself are very smart, ambitious, assertive, creative and can accomplish anything they set their minds to do!
Encourage your child to keep using that left hand, don't listen to those so "call educators"!
My sister and I are both totally left handed; neither parent was, but my father believed he'd been forced to switch because everything that a child would do more or less unsupervised, such as throwing a ball, he did left handed.
I was never 'forced' or even encouraged to change from left to right, when growing up, but did switch, of my own accord at around 10 or 11 years old. When I broke my left arm, at age 12, the teachers said, well write with your right hand. I did and still can, but it takes far too long to be of any practical use. It is much neater than my normal writing though!
When i was at first school ( in the 70's) the dinner ladies made me eat with my spoon in my right hand, but i couldn't co-ordinate my spoon to my mouth so therefore kept spilling and droppng my pudding.They used to shout at me for being clumsey saying i was a devil child for being left handed. so I never had pudding again and went without.
I think that a child should eat what ever way they feel the most comftable with, does it really concern anyone in which hand they choose to put a knife, fork or spoon in ?
I do everything with my left hand and I didn't choose to be left handed but it was me who had to addapt to everything in this right handed world !
GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR APPEAL
Hope your child's school can get behind the idea of treating all students equally. Good luck!
To add some ammo to the appeal these questions should be put forward to the Governers of the school; What about equality and diversity? The school should have a policy in place. They should supply the children with proper left handed cutlery. By making children swap their cutlery over could cause emotional distress. They may not be able to cut safely with their right hand. They might be messy and become embarrassed. Surely their human rights should be considered?! (even murderers have their human rights protected!
The school are NOT promoting equality or diversity.
Keep up the protest!!
I do think it's wrong to try and force a child to change - in anything. It does hinder their confidence and ability in themselves. :(
In regards to the article, I don't think anyone should be told what hand to use for anything, right or left. Even though I'm left handed I use my right to throw and hit and stuff and I drove a PE teacher crazy with that. They knew I was left handed and it bothered them that I would change back in the 6th grade. So yes, I say just go with whatever hand the student wants to use and be happy that they're using silverware instead of their hands!
I have tried eating the lefty way, but it feels clumsy and awkward. To force a child to eat one way or the other is just wrong. As long as they are using a knife and fork, the hands used is not significant. Does it really matter anyway, aslong as they can get the food to their mouths with the fork? I seriously think schools need to wake up to potential lefty problems and start accepting that being a lefty is normal!
If the idea is to imrpove students' hand coordination by making them eat using their least dominant hand then why not get the right-handed children to eat with the fork in their right hand?
I don't think I've been affected !!! However, I sometimes pick up a tool, a screwdriver say and feel a bit confused initially which hand to use. I can certainly wield a hammer with more force left-handed. Strangely, I tend to eat the 'American' way, fork mostly in the right hand?
As for the school that said the reason for trying to get the left-handed pupil to be more dexterous.... presumably made the right-handed kids eat left handed some of the time for the same reason. Not.... I expect!
Conforming to societal pressure to eat right handed just seems ridiculous to me- does Lara know the old saying "if all your friends were going to jumped off a bridge would you do it?"
Stop forcing your child to do something they're not comfortable with just because you think they'll look a bit different! Some of the best boxers are southpaws!
My response: Seriously??? I cannot even believe I just read that. Some right handed people switch to the other hand for the fork after cutting food!! Anyway, the point is…Must we all fit into a little tiny box?? Individuality is what makes the world an exciting place!! What if we all liked and did everything exactly the same? BORING!!!!…You are a very dull person; no doubt!
obviously you have no clue how disastrous many side-effects of this can be. Already at young age more or less getting the impression of 'something wrong with me' and over-adapting to a so often so mistaken form of society changes the child's personality a lot. Especially regarding trust in oneself, trusting one's own instincts or gut gets totally torn and many decisions for life are made in the very wrong way. I would spare this to my children if I can. It is up to parents to also take care that our/their children grow up in a world that is liveable, for every one. If there would be more who speak up, write and take the side of their children, the world would also be more social ... to lefties. It is a matter of mind. And that one has a right to stay healthy, not torn.
My granny whom I loved a lot, having experienced war times and having had to flee, took care that I was trained a right-hander though by birth I am a left. She thought it would be good that she prepared us children to fit into the right-handers' world as it is, and it certainly was her fear that made her act this way, additionally to the pressures she had experienced when people are different or out of a norm. Do we really support such overcome way of thinking? Me not.
In our family we found out when my daughter, also lefty but 'writing right', ran in trouble at school though clearly having been a bright child before. Teachers did not know about the dramatic effects of false handedness, and named her stupid. What would people think this does to a sensitive and intelligent child? We had to do a lot of missionary work at school, Kindergarten and day care, where also kids were forced the same way to use cutlery right-handed way.
I think it is worth it being a little uncomfortable if it is for the healthy upbringing of children. I know definitely what it does being trained the wrong way around, and started at age 40 to find back my self and my left hand. Many mistakes in my life I could have spared out if I only would have had confidence in my instinct which was trained away when my handedness was turned around.
The problem would not exist that left-handed children have to feel 'different' if it would just be normal to be aware of anyone's laterality and it would be appreciated as it is. 'Oh wow, you are left-handed? How gorgeous!'
And of course, a world and society aware of both options, would also care for the provision of symmetric tools and machines, or if they need to be asymmetric, then it should be a duty to exist in both handers versions.
When I was a toddler, my parents would put the spoon in my right hand, and I would immediately switch it to my left. They finally asked me why I did that (of course they knew, but they wanted to see what I would say). My answer: "It doesn't FIT in that one." I never paid attention to how anyone else ate. It was all about me!
I am left handed and eat right handed - but did spend some of my childhood learning to write with my right hand (they thought I may be ambidextrous), which was very useful when I broke my left humerus into 4 bits and was immobile for 8 weeks!
I don't understand why being left handed has ever been an issue and I would encourage anyone with a child being forced to adopt right handedness to fight it all the way! My parents did and for that I am eternally grateful.
probably never had children but read what to do in Uni so the book must be right
I really think it is a mistake to correct a child if they are comfortable eating left handedly. There was no pressure put upon me as a child and I suppose I have, as with many things, adapted to the right-handed way.
Clearly I was mistaken!
All of my family is right handed but everyone except myself eats using the "right handed" method and I have always looked "odd" when going out to restaurants with friends as everyone knows I'm right handed but eat the "incorrect" way.
To be honest my family has never taken notice of this but I relieved that I'm not alone, as I have always felt like I'm the only right hander who eats "left handed".
I was the only leftie in my nuclear family (me,mother, father, brother) but I was raised in the U.S., so I learned the cut with left, put knife down, pick up fork in left and eat with it; repeated over & over. When I first visited, then migrated to Australia, I decieded to learn to eat with both hands. Hoever, following the feeling that the knife needed the most control (thereby putting in my left hand), I commenced feeding myself with the right hand, which works MOST of the time; when it doesn't, I switch the fork back to the left (a-la-US) for that particular bite/s,
A rather liberating skill which I learnt when I was in my early 20's was how to use chopsticks: most food you'd eat with chopsticks (Asian styles) usually have the meat/food pre-cut before cooking into roughly bite-sized bits or smaller, so you can use one hand only, and choose which one! Would solve many 'wars' like the ones discussed! Oi294! All you parents,teachers, principals etc etc: Unless you're are a Neurologist, don't screw with children's natural neurological pathways! You are harming more than helping. 10-15% of the world's population is left-handed, so you are damaging & discriminating against the largest minority of people in existence. It's not the Middle Ages anymore; get a grip on it!
My son is also left handed, whereas my wife is not; however all three of us eat left handed (there is no history of left handedness in my wife's family.)
Our son at 4 still hasn't decided which ahnd to use for writing but uses is left for fork and spoon eating. I am deleiberatlry trying not to influence him, but think he will write right handed.
If I only use a spoon or a fork I just use my left-hand.
Now my brother, also left-handed does it the right-hand way, because he has seen this do it in school and at home. So he cuts the food holding the knife with his right hand. I remember he saying something that "everybody does it this way" when I used to tell him off.
My grand-daughter is left handed and struggles to eat with a knife and fork with knife in right hand. I've tried to see if she can do it with the knife in left hand, and she does seem to have more 'power' but just automatically uses it in the right, so this is very helpful and I will not even comment any more. I also have a right handed son in law [not on that side of the family] who eats left handed.....
I went back to college to receive my degree by 40, taught elementary in 2 states, retiring at 65. My BIGGEST lament/complaint/grievance Still is: Teach the child to write with the paper parallel to his/her writing arm!!!! Such a simple thing to observe and help the child to do for either parents or teachers. Most people don't even realize I'm left-handed because I write correctly. I cringe every time I see someone, like President Obama and other recent presidents, writing with an overlapped hand. Ah, well.......
I'm a left-handed MD, child psychiatrist. I remember experimenting which way of holding the cutlery or glasses was easiest for me. There is not black or white but a grey scale, and there is a spectrum from left to ambidexter to right, and every one of us has his/her quite individual spot on this spectrum. So the important point is, that your son is at ease alone and when in company.
1) It is desirable "to be able when you want" to eat the mainstream way, easiest learned in young age.
2) Mostly liquid is spilled: soup, cereal,..
3) If your son is comfortable with left: Try using fork knife together mainstream, using them alone usually left; spoon always left. Cutting generally left; as this is dangerous if you're having trouble holding the knife. Later he might prefer double serrated knifes (serrated knifes are too dangerous for children).
4) Let left-handed kids try and get used to right-handed tools, because when they need them in the "real world" they won't always find their preferred lefty version. But i's nice to have your "own" small set of items (let righty siblings try them as well; no need for
sibling rivalry)
5) Is it the whole school or just one teacher? Consider
(a) teacher training by a neutral third party (without negatively stigmatizing any
teacher! Be a role model) and
(b) as second step changing schools - but only if your son wants it too ! He would be unhappy if his left would make him leave all friends behind. Friends are important too.
6) Does he hold the pen ergonomically? There are good suggestions for writing posture on this website.
Best wishes for your son.
Once eating left-handed the problem is finding the best eating tools. when I use the knife I do so with my left hand and hold the fork in my right hand when needed to stabilize food for cutting. Once cut I switch the fork to the left hand and go merrily on my way. Doing this I have found it difficult to cut with one sided serrated (right handed) knives.
I have 5 steak knives that are double serrated and I guard them as gold!
Your articles are fantastic and I enjoy them so much.
iola
Phillip
I say its time to revolt against forced handedness. Viva la revolution!!!
If i had a child that was being forced to change their left dominant behaviour and the school argued my disapproval I would be seriously looking at taking my child somewhere else. I'm very sorry to hear that that level of close-mindedness and intolerance still exists.
Sorry, all I'm not trying to hijack this thread. Just a hockey freak. Maybe sports and music could be other threads?
......Okay I'm still waiting. But that doesn't mean I can't do this as a mental exercise. What would a world of our own look and feel like? I wonder..
Regards
T. Golightly far away in America
When I was little (I'm 46 now) I was forced to were an ugly black belt with my pretty dresses so I wouldn't use my sinister (evil) left hand. The only other left handed person had down's syndrome and I was constantly reminded that I was just like her, mentally disabled because I was left handed. At home it wasn't that bad until it came to dinner when I was always put at the left end of the table so I wouldn't bump anyone with my elbow. I soon learned that I wasn't the one eating with my elbow out, it was all the righties, many of whom had their elbows almost horizontal while they ate!
I have always used right handed everything in my left hand. Bought my first pair of left handed scissors this last year. I actually have nerve damage in my thumb from using those stupid backward scissors.
I have three sons, two are right handed, one would use either had, whichever was closer until he went to public school. That totally ruined him, now there is only a few things he can do with either hand.
When I was little and started learning how to eat, my mom worried because even though she was born left-handed, she was forced to change hands. I started trying to eat left handed alone, and a left-handed cousin finished teaching me. I've done it this way ever since, and I've never ever seen someone else eat this way.
Whenever I go to a restaurant, the first thing I do is change the cutlery to a way I feel comfortable, even before I order anything. Sometimes a waitress tries to change this, and I growl at her XD
I am getting more puzzled about left handed eating and whether I am left handed.
Restaurants lay out their tables and put the fork on the left hand side and the Knife on the right, so this is surely how right handed people eat and not left handed people.
I need to reverse them so the fork is in my right hand and if it is just a spoon it goes into my right hand as well. I have always had a problem when a sweet needs a fork and a spoon as I am used to having both in my right hand
I write left handed but would play tennis and cricket and throw like a right hander. I use a mouse with my left hand.
I cut bread with my left hand
some things like a hammer or screwdriver I can use either hand.
so I am puzzled as to what I really am
Paul
Really interesting discussion
I am left handed but eat right handed, my partner is right handed but left footed and eats right handed and my daughter is right handed and right footed but she eats the left handed way with knife and fork, we discovered that when she was learning to eat she sat opposite her father and mirrored how he ate, so when he lifted his fork with his left hand she mirrored by lifting with her left as she sat opposite.
To add a new left footed, right footed debate we own horses and when we ride you usually put your weight in one leg more than the other (normally the dominant side) stretching the stirrup leather over time, my partner and I both stretch the left side, and my daughter does the same even though she is right footed!
As for which hand a child should use when eating, it shouldn't matter whether they are left or right handed, what should matter is what the child is comfortable with. The whole point of being an individual is being unique, by forcing everyone to do everything the same way you are taking away some of their uniqueness which is a big loss.
I have enough to put up with being left handed and a vegetarian.
Your sons school sounds absolutely vile and they should either take a giant leap forward into at least the 20th Century or they should be closed down immediately and all the staff sacked without references or hope of future employment with children. They are behaving appallingly and should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves!
It is discrimination of the vilest kind, and would be illegal if it was for practically any other reason than handedness
I am sorry Catherine's son had a negative experience and am glad they have insisted in him using which ever hand is comfortable for him. My grand daughter is 2 and she is looking to be right handed whilst both her parents and myself are lefties - we all look with interest as she begin's her journey.
I am very aware we live in a right handed world and if one is right handed it seems easier to function with taps knives the list is endless. I value your newsletters - they have been an eye opener for me and explain why bread knives and the rest of these utensils can be such a struggle at times
Incidently I have a right handed son in law who changes his cutlery around to eat - there certainly isn't only one way to eat these days
Anyway, let your child alone. They will figure out what works best and always support them.
Give a right-handed person a left-handed can opener then ask to open a can. The look of confusion and befuddlement is wondrous. They know it is a can opener but cannot easily comprehend how it is actually used.
A right-handed person has a much more difficult time in a left-handed world than we do in the right-handed one.
I really get annoyed in restaurants when I change my cutlery over and the waiter comes and changes it back!
When we go to the grandparents (the kids dads parents) I am expected to eat right handed, I always get in a muddle, I end up taking the wrong glass, eating with the utensils in the wrong hand.
I think my youngest should have been a lefty. He started off lefty but somewhere along the line of nursery and infant school he converted to right. His handwriting is awful and he's severely dyslexic, he can write with his left hand but he says it doesnt feel comfortable even though doing this he gets his letters the right way round! He starts Secondary school in Sept and I really worry that no one will be able to read his work or understand what he has written.
At primary school as a five-year old, however, my teacher (a lovely woman called Mrs Gibbon) attempted,gently, to make me write with my right hand on one occasion, which did apparently upset me. My late mum came and spoke to her about it, demanding to know why she had done this.
Well, said my teacher, he is clearly right handed, because that's the way he eats. At which point, my mother disabused her of this notion in no uncertain terms. My teacher was mortified, because she hadn't noticed this exact same issue in her own son, who was left-handed and ate right-handed (because the rest of her family were righties).
She was very apologetic, after which there was no problem at all.
When eating out w/ a group I carefully scope out how everyone is placed and look for an end seat so the righties don't crash into me. I let them know that I'm lefty and need the spot if I have to. It's second nature. The lefties don't crash into the righties the righties crash the lefties because they don't think that anyone will eat with a different hand than they do. I have found that in most cases no matter how much space I put between myself and a righty, they'll jostle me.
Eating Indian food righthanded is quite a problem for me. I do try to do it for the sake of politeness, but often have to give up.
My father tried to make me use spoon right handed when i was young, but soon gave up when I just kept on using it left handed.
And of course wine/beer glass is on the left of the table !
Catherine did the right thing by protesting to the school.
problems. It's wrog for any school to try tochange any child this way.
My father was very strict about table manners. I was allowed to eat left-handed, but whenever I put something down on the table, it had to be in the "right" place. So I sometimes drink with my right hand (sometimes without putting my fork down, which I'm sure looks uncouth). I was also taught to eat with my elbows tucked in close to my body.
The only exception I make is when eating Indian food with my hands -- I use my right hand always, because in that culture, which hand you eat with has sanitation implications for everybody at the table. (If I'm using a fork or spoon, I'll still use my left hand though.)
Catherine, your son's stutter disappeared right after he was no longer being pressured to eat the other way around. I suggest this is evidence enough that forcing your son to change his eating is harmful -- to him, even if there's no evidence that it's harmful in general. I might suggest to them also that, in our culture, eating neatly and gracefully is more important than which hand he eats with.
I would like to make a comment on the school issue. I think it is an absolute disgrace to try and make any child eat the 'right way round'. What indeed is the right way round anyway. This leads me on to a question I often ask myself - 'why don't I play cricket and golf left handed? I wonder if it was because I was given the cricket bat to play right handed when I was at school. I went to a strict grammar school, and although it is too far back to remember exactly, I do wonder whether this is what happened. Does anyone else have any views?
Even so, I do advise you to do your best to eat right-handed when living in a culture that views the left hand as insanitary. In private, you may revert to using your dominant hand, but using your right hand to eat shows respect for the culture and a willingness to inconvenience yourself for their sake. I think that it is more important to try to conform (at least at first) than to ignore customary practices right off the bat. If it truly causes too much distress, maybe talk with any traveling companions you may have about it, and get their opinions?
I do know that when I was young and learning to write - the teacher tried her best to get me to write right handed; when my mother found out about it she informed the teacher & everyone else if I wanted to write left handed - let me!! My suggestion to Catherine Is since she has already talked to the teacher, talk to the principal and see if that will help. Plus remind everyone that there are popular, famous & important people that are left handed including the president!
After all left handed people are in their right mind - right!!
So now my eldest son is left handed and eats right handed but my other son is right handed but eats left handed!
I cannot remember why I chose to eat this way ....
- and the only time get annoyed is when I swap the utensils, prior to eating, around and a waiter or waitress apologises and changes them back.
I'm an accomplished spaghetti eater, having long ago realised that the spoon in my right hand is little more than a vessel to support the spaghetti as it coils onto the fork in my left hand. I noticed recently that my dad, a right hander is rubbish at eating spaghetti - he can't do the fork twizzle with his left hand. so we normally supply him with a knife to cut it all up into little pieces!
I eat with my fork and spoon in my left hand. Cutting food I switch the knife to my left hand then pick up the fork.
My grandfather in school had his left arm tied behind him. He became amidextrous and used both hands for writing. His was beautiful handwriting too. I had problems in school as all the tablet chairs were right handed. My computer is a "lefty" mouse!
I have worked in both types of school and found the fee paying schools to be more dogmatic in their approach to many things.
I would take them to the Court of European Rights. The only time they should complain, is if he doesn't use the knife and fork and shoves it in with his hands!
As far as eating I am extremely left handed, all of my utensils are used in my left hand. When I use a knife and fork. I will always use the knife in my left hand, sometimes I use the fork in my right but it is not comfortable. I generally cut all of my food up at one time and then lay down the knife and switch the fork to my left hand to eat.
This is extremely old, no one does this any more. I'm going to say this is from the 1950's.
Signed, an American born in the 70's. :-)
The only thing I use right handed are scissors.
One thing I do find awkward is an ordinary right handed keyboard (which I use at work each day) but they won't provide me with a left handed one.
As far as eating is concerned, I use the knife and fork the 'right-handed' way and a spoon in my left. However, I tend to use a bread or kitchen knife with my left hand.
My confusion arises when I do other things. I throw stones with my right hand, play badminton, squash, tennis and golf with my right, but throw darts, play snooker and do the more precise things with my left. Strangely, I would be a southpaw if I ever deemed it necessary to get into a ring.
My son is right handed as his mum is but my daughter is left handed. MY daughter eats the right handed way and I put that down to her mum showing her that is the correct way to eat. but as for her writing, clever lass can use either hand. No idea where that came from though.
I like to make nice things from wool and I use my hookneedle in my right hand. But almost all the movements to make stitches I do with my left hand; the hookneedle is hardly moving. The same with knitting.
When I have to open the tap or use a screwdriver or something like that I get dizzy. Me and my husband are both lefthanders, one of our three children is lefthanded too. We installed our tap in the kitchen on the left side, use our mouse for the computer on the left side and our two righthanded girls are used to it. It is nice to have some things lefthanded in your own house!
Thank you for your inspiring newsletter.
from an OFSTED inspector (retired)
There are left handed people and there are right handed people in this world, tell those teachers to get over it and stop harassing the students. People stopped harassing left handers years ago here in the states.
As a substitute teacher, I make certain I encourage left-handed students, Kindergarten through high school, to be aware it can be an advantage to perform daily activities of living as well as sports with both sides of the body.
Why not practice doing well with either hand? For example, as an overweight adult, I use chopsticks and switch the chopsticks to my non-dominant hand to increase mindful eating, slow down and reduce consumption.
FYI: As a child, I was forced to use my right hand (eating & writing) AND everything I learned on my own I do with the left side of my body (brush hair, throw balls, racket sports, surf goofie foot).
PS . I married a righty and both of our children are righty's.
I think my father must have been a natural leftie as I remember him once saying he'd had his left hand tied behind his back and his writing with his right hand was always very neat but slow. When I went to school he was determined that I should be allowed to use my left hand, bless him. I now have young grandchildren and am fascinated to see which way they will go - there is so much ambidexterity in the family it should be very interesting!
I'm left footed, play tennis left handed but play cricket as a right hander. If I were a boxer I would lead with my left.
My parents never pushed me to be a right hander, but at school I had trouble when writing as they wanted my writing to slope to the right which caused me to write upside down. I ignored this practice and sloped my writing to the left.
A cousin who was born left handed was forced to be right handed and forever stuttered as when he picked up a writing instrument his knuckles were wrapped!
No one should force a left handed person to go against his/her natural preference.
I was a draughtsman for many years and never had any complaints about my work from the drawing board.
Our left handed daughter eats with her cutlery in the same hands as my husband and I, whereas our right handed daughter eats with her fork in her right hand and her knife in her left hand.
Neither me, my husband or my children have ever been made to use our right hands, however my stepfather who was left handed was made to write with his right hand at school. He suffered from a stutter all his life which I am convinced was as a result of this.
Regarding your son at school Catherine, what is happening is a blatant case of discrimination. Take it to a higher education office and make some noise and it will stop. You have plenty of data to reinforce your argument from this website.
Your son is being bullied! plain and simple. I was physically, mentally and verbally abused for using my left hand from the age of 5 years and i could write you a book on the subject, what say the teachers a your sons school subject all the right handed kids in the same way as they did to your son! i fancy anarchy and mayhem would surely follow, good luck Catherine.
My thought is, what would this school do if her son had a broken arm or some other problem? Surey in this day and age they have the knowledge that forcing the chidren to write/eat 'right handed' does more harm than good? She really needs to challenge this with the Local Authority,her MP and the local press. Ask around the other mothers to see if there are any other leftie children and how they are being treated.
i'm a 47 yr old left hander in the UK, at Primary school a was rapped across the knuckles with a wooden rule for naturally using my left hand, then the teacher said use your other hand! i thought i was in the wrong and i couldn't see a way of solving the problem. Imagine what would happen at school if they did to all the right handed kids what they did to your son! Anarchy and mayhem would surely follow. a left handed child is easily confused in this life preordained for the righteous right hander. Stick to your guns and well done for your efforts in righting a wrong, no pun intended, just left handed humour.
Michael
A school that makes a child eat to their way of thinking is wrong. Everone eats differently. We are all individuals and not robots, children especially. Don't stand for it. If you feel he is being bullied get him in a different school. No messing!!!
On an unrelated topic it's very hard for me to comprehend the statistic that left handed people comprise only 10% of the population worldwide. I would like to see it addressed by this website to hopefully debunk this theory since this percentage appears too low.
Your school sounds like something from the ark. How dare they suggest your son needs to change his eating ways for social reasons. Absolute poppycock!
I am appalled that this caused him such stress and glad his ticks and stammer has vanished.
I have three boys and three girls and all the girls and I are left handed. If anyone suggested this I would be straight up to ask evidence to back this up.
Who cares or notices which hand people use for cutlery.
If anyone ridicules or strikes your left handed child, you need to be his or her champion and report any activity by teachers to the school principal.
It is certainly a right handed world and every now and then I get a "oh, you're left handed then?" as if it is something to be ashamed of. I just reply with "at least we're in our right minds, not like the rest of you!" It shuts them up. It still amazes me that people can be so prejudiced and insensitive in our so called enlightened world.
I too would be most unhappy with this schools attitude towards the left handed
Catherine I would not be happy with the school's attitude at all. I was always aware as a left handed teacher of the needs of my left handed pupils.
I normally hold a cup/glass in my left hand, although I might switch it to my right if I'm working and need my left hand to write. I tend to spill things if I do this though, so it doesn't happen often ;-)
Ria
I developed a bad stammer in Juniors and withdrew from games. You can’t throw a ball with your proper hand”. I developed coping strategies for normal school life by 14 and the stammer only ever came back with a new girlfriend! I have since worked in radio broadcast and now sit as the Chair in a Magistrates court. Being forced to use both hands has had some major advantages in my work. When my right handed colleagues could not work in a confined space I always was summoned. I use both hands as required now. Shame my primary teacher died.. I would love to have had some justice!
I can actually eat right-handed with the same dexterity as my left. I think it stems from a six week stint with my left arm in a cast at age eleven. I learned to do most things reasonably well right-handed during that time, save for writing.
Since we both eat left-handed, we're always looking for the proper outside seat at restaurants when dining with others. I'm of the opinion one should be allowed to eat in the way that is most comfortable, and causes the least amount of spills!
How about sports? I'm a left-handed darts player, a left-footed footballer, a left-handed cricketer and a left-handed fisherman, but I can play golf equally badly using either left- or right-handed clubs. Weird.....
When cutting/carving food, I always hold the knife in my left hand.
When drinking, I always hold my cup/mug/glass in my left hand. Likewise, when pouring, I hold the jug etc in my left hand.
Like one of my nephews (who is also left-handed) I set the table in reverse. The glass goes on the left hand side and the cutlery is set up with the knife on the left.
I would add that the left-handed pastry fork and knives I have bought are very useful. In fact, I can't ope without the left handed pastry fork!
Chas
That said I am trying to encourage them to fit in with the social norms, but only my daughter is willing to try. If I encountered problems such as Catherine's I would leave it - but as I'm the parent and not a teacher my kids feel v. comfortable ignoring me!!
I also swap knife hands when buttering bread and chopping. In our favour - side-plates with their little knives are also on the left (should you be dining formally!) Spoon and fork desert eating however doesn't work!
So, let's just let everyone eat with whatever hand combo they feel most comfortable and confident using. As long as they don't loom over their food or eat with their mouths open or such, hands used seems to be irrelevant!
As to the cultures that consider the left hand the "dirty" hand and not to be used for eating, consider these two points:
1) IF one washes ones hands after using the restroom/bathroom/toilet, as is proper and ALWAYS to be done, it doesn't matter which hand you use for anything - both should be clean;
2) Even if you DO wash your hands (as, apparently, a majority do NOT - may I say, "YUCK!"), studies have shown that the dirtiest surface in a restroom is the HANDLE ON THE EXIT DOOR (all those people who do not wash their hands touch it)! So, even if you are one of the minority of hand-washers, all that washing does you no good if you touch the handle bare handed on the way out. And most right handers use their right hands to open doors. So, NOW which hand is the "dirty" one?!
May I suggest that everyone use the paper towel you used to dry your hands to ALSO open the door, thus keeping a barrier between you and that dirty old door knob! It's becoming a trend here in the US, as more and more people learn of the dirty door knob statistic.
What would be for his own good would be if he was left to his own devices.
Just for the record, my family probably proves the inconsistency.
Father, left handed, knife and fork LH, Spoon RH, just a knife for bread etc RH
Mother, RH, K&F RH, Spoon RH, Just knife RH
Myself, LH, K&F RH, spoon LH, just a knife either
Son 1, RH, K&F LH, spoon RH, just knife RH
Daughter, RH, K&F RH, Spoon RH, just knife RH
Son 2 RH, K&F RH, Spoon either, just Knife LH, (guitar started LH but changed to fit in better
and now RH, but still pretty good with left!)
Keith
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