It’s International Left-handers Day coming up on 13 August. We like to celebrate our differences at Surety so we’ll definitely be focusing on the day – and what it means to be left-handed as a young person.
The day was started in 1976 to raise awareness of the difficulties faced by left-handers. Getting the right scissors and mastering activities like learning to write without smudging their work. Going back a few generations, it was ignored and left-handers were forced to use their right hands whether they liked it or not. However it did result in a quite a few of those people being impressively ampidextrous.
A few facts about left-handed people..
- Scientists aren’t 100% sure why people are left-handed but about 25% of the time, it’s genetic.
- Right handed people operate on the left side of the brain and left-handed people are functioning on the right side.
- Approx 10% of the UK population is left-handed.
- There’s evidence that left-handed children perform less well in nearly all measures of development but usually catch up as they get older.
- Baseball and tennis are good sports to be in if you are left-handed. As a lefty pitcher or batter in baseball and being a left-hander can be used to your advantage in tennis and badminton; as people think you are going to serve the other way.
Here are two ways that you can celebrate the day:
- Left-handers getting out there and bragging about being left handed.
- Post it on social media.
- Right-handers having a go at writing or throwing a ball with their left hands, or using left handed scissors. Get a feel of what it’s really like.