Sign language is a language people all around the world use to communicate. It’s not only used for people with hearing or speaking disabilities, but also by whoever wants to use it.

I once had a best-friend in 7th grade that decided to learn sign language with me so that we could talk to each other during school, without actually speaking. The best part was that not many people were able to understand what we said. What if a zombie apocalypse were to happen? What if you needed to tell someone what to do or how to do it, but couldn’t let anyone hear you? Sign language could be the answer to that.

Unfortunately, here at JCHS, sign language isn’t offered. Which in my opinion, is ridiculous. It may not be a verbal language, but it’s definitely still a language that people use and sometimes need to use. Sign language is actually an easy language to learn, for most people. Which means no more C’s and D’s in French, Spanish, or any other language class. It’s also an incredibly fun language to learn. There are tons of different unique hand gestures to make and watch.

You’ll come across people who have to communicate through sign language your whole life. They may be telling you that they’re hurt and need help, but if you never took a class to learn sign language, you’d probably have no idea how to help them, or what they’re even saying. Finding an ASL (American Sign Language) teacher isn’t like finding a unicorn; it’s not impossible. So why doesn’t this school provide it? If every other language like German, French, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, etc., is being provided for us at this school and sign language isn’t, how is that fair to us? It’s just as much a language as any other one. Sign language could be a more effective way to communicate. You don’t have to worry about pronunciation or spelling; all you need to do is learn the hand gestures.

If someone were to move to this school that had a hearing impairment and had to communicate through sign language, maybe if it was offered as a class, we’d be able to communicate better.

This fun, unspoken, easy language can be one of the best to learn. But here, it’s just not an option. There’s not much of an excuse as to why it isn’t offered as a course. According to the student handbook, ASL would satisfy the foreign language graduation requirement. And it’s not impossible to find an instructor either, if the school actually tried. It’s widely used and necessary for some students. So why isn’t it an option yet? I ask myself that same question.