Jessica Berget
Opinions Editor

 

f you went to school in Canada, chances

are you had to take a French class,
or even went to a French immersion
school. French is the second official
language in Canada, so there is a huge
emphasis on learning the language
because, as some teachers claim,
“Tt will be helpful in the future.”

Plot twist: I’ve never had to speak

a word of French to anyone since
learning it in the eighth grade, and
have forgotten most it except for the
initial greetings because of how little
I’ve had to use it. However, there have
been plenty of times that I’ve interacted
with a deaf or hard of hearing person,
and could not understand what they
were communicating to me. Because

of this, I believe that ASL or American

Sign Language should be taught in
schools alongside or instead of French,
or any other language for that matter.

The Canadian Association of the
Deaf concludes that there are about
357,000 profoundly deaf Canadians
and about 3.21 million who are hard of
hearing. Additionally, as reported by
Census Canada 2016, there are about
7.2 million Canadians—z20.6 per cent
of the Canadian population—whose
mother tongue is French. However, most
of them live in Quebec, where French
is the majority spoken language. Living
on the other side of the country in BC,
where fluent French speakers are few
and far between, and deaf or hard of
hearing people being all over the world,
I don’t see any reason why teaching
French in public schools is considered
more useful than sign language.

Forget about how many people speak
it, let’s talk about the accessibility of
language. French speakers have the ability
to learn English or to navigate their way
in English speaking countries using
dictionaries or some language learning
resources. The deaf and hard of hearing
community however, have no such luck.
They certainly can’t learn to hear, and
there are limited resources that help
them communicate with hearing people.
This is part of why I believe teaching sign
language in schools is so important.

Teaching ASL in schools provides a
lot of benefits for not only deaf people.

It creates a much friendlier community
within public schools by bridging the
gap between hearing and non-hearing
people at a younger age. Deaf kids who
become alienated from their peers
because they can’t verbally communicate
with them will have the opportunity

 

Photo by Analyn Carto

to get to know their fellow classmates
by teaching them sign language. It will
also help people understand deafness
and the deaf community on a more
personal level. Teaching sign language to
younger children also helps them develop
fine motor skills, encourages healthy
communication, makes them better
spellers, and increases their vocabulary
according to a study by Marilyn
Daniels, Professor in the Department of
Communication in Penn State University.
With all the benefits that come
from teaching and learning sign
language, it is a wonder that it is still
not being taught in schools. Hopefully
it is only a matter of time that school
systems begin incorporating it into
their curriculum. The sooner we can
facilitate communication between the
hearing and deaf community, the better.

Please dress appropriately for the weather

> It isn’t worth the hypothermia

Jessica Berget
Opinions Editor

 

Ithough the first day of winter isn’t

officially until December 21, it feels
like it is already here—thanks, climate
change—and in full force. Even as I
write this, wearing a sweater inside of
a somewhat-heated coffee shop, I am
freezing my ass off. To think that there
are people currently outside wearing
just leggings or hoodies as their only
defence in this climate makes me
want to weep. Which brings me to my
main point: Please, for the love of God,
dress appropriately for the weather.

C¢ For your own sake,

bundle up.”

 

The frustrating thing about this is
that people usually know how cold it is,
and know that they are going to freeze,
but continue to underdress. Whether
this is in the name of fashion or simply
denial, I don’t know, but it’s time to
face the cold, harsh reality (literally).

There is no such thing as bad

weather, just bad clothing. Far too many
times I have heard people complain
about the weather while shivering

outside because they didn’t wear enough,

or the right kind of clothes, for the cold.
If youre going to complain about how
freezing it is, make sure you are dressed
enough to have a reason to. Of course
you're cold—youre wearing a hoodie
and leggings in six-degree weather.
If you underdress at this time of the
year, you only have yourself to blame.
T-shirts, jeans with holes in them,
hoodies, leggings, and for some reason
shorts are poor clothing choices that I
keep seeing being worn in this climate
more often than I'd like. These articles
of clothing are not enough to keep you
warm in the cold unless you're wearing
them underneath more clothes. As much

as you don't want to admit it, this kind of

weather calls for big coats, scarves, and
gloves—so for your own sake, bundle up.
I guess I feel so strongly about this
because I was once that person standing
outside in the freezing cold wearing
nothing but a crop top and a skirt. I
didn’t want to accept the fact it was no
longer summer, and I hated wearing
anything that covered up my outfit so
much so that I would rather freeze, but I
was young, and foolish. Don’t make the
same mistakes I once did. Put a coat on.

 

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