Editor,

RE: "Writing with left-hand is not a disability” (The New Times, March 9).

As a left-handed person, I endured untold discrimination, stigmatization and outright harassment throughout my childhood from adults that ought to have known better, and even thought myself as an outcast.

I painfully recall being caned by teachers in junior primary school for writing with the left hand, despite the fact that I was the best student academically.

I was not even spared by my parents who punished me for eating with the left hand, which to them was taboo.

Therefore, this is not just a matter of attitude change. It is a matter of protecting child rights. Authorities should institute stern measures to protect such children against this overt form of harassment.

Alberto