Choose Your Words Wisely

Just wanted to share a little story about something that happened to our daughter, Brynn, yesterday at school. In her 10th grade Honors English class another student was incessantly using the word retarded in a demeaning fashion and telling other people, "You are so retarded," or "Your binder is mentally challenged," and things of this nature.

Brynn sat there and listened to it, becoming increasingly bothered and offended by her word choice. She finally turned to her and said, "You really shouldn't use the word retarded like that. It's not very nice." The girl looked at her and replied, "Well, I'm not a very nice person." To which Brynn responded, "There's a difference between not being nice and being insensitive." 

Apparently, the girl didn't say one more word until the bell rang.

How do you feel about using or hearing this word in a manner such as this? Does it bother you like it did Brynn?