Manchester Students' Union swaps clapping for jazz hands
- 6 years ago
MANCHESTER, UNITED KINGDOM — A student union has decided to ban clapping, whooping and cheering and replaced it instead with — wait for it — jazz hands.
According to the BBC, student reps from the University of Manchester actually voted to replace clapping with the British Sign Language equivalent — a wave of both hands, so jazz hands.
Apparently clapping can trigger students with autism, sensory issues and deafness. Hold up — clapping bothers deaf people?
At lively events such as debates, panels and talks, no more will students be subjected to the harsh sounds of audible clapping.
According to the student union's liberation and access officer Sara Khan, who proposed the idea, said clapping can "discourage" people from events.
Khan said, "I think a lot of the time, even in Parliamentary debates, I've seen that clapping, whooping and talking over each other, loud noises, encourages an atmosphere that is not as respectful as it could be."
Khan said the union was looking to be more inclusive.
According to the BBC, student reps from the University of Manchester actually voted to replace clapping with the British Sign Language equivalent — a wave of both hands, so jazz hands.
Apparently clapping can trigger students with autism, sensory issues and deafness. Hold up — clapping bothers deaf people?
At lively events such as debates, panels and talks, no more will students be subjected to the harsh sounds of audible clapping.
According to the student union's liberation and access officer Sara Khan, who proposed the idea, said clapping can "discourage" people from events.
Khan said, "I think a lot of the time, even in Parliamentary debates, I've seen that clapping, whooping and talking over each other, loud noises, encourages an atmosphere that is not as respectful as it could be."
Khan said the union was looking to be more inclusive.