Ban on clapping - what next?
Student union bans clapping to make events 'inclusive'
The University of Manchester's student union wants praise communicated using jazz hands instead - and cheering is also banned.
Clapping has been banned by a student union in a move to be more inclusive towards those with anxiety or sensory issues.Jazz hands - British Sign Language (BSL) clapping - will replace clapping, cheering and whooping at the University of Manchester's student union events.
According to student newspaper Mancunion, the ban was agreed at the first union meeting of the year.
"It resolved to swap out audible clapping for BSL clapping at SU events, and to encourage student groups and societies to do the same, and to include BSL clapping as a part of inclusion training," the student paper reads.
The motion was authored by liberation and access officer Sara Khan, and received little opposition.
Ms Khan has made the news previously in July when her fellow student union representatives painted over a Rudyard Kipling poem at the university, in a protest against "racist" and "imperialistic" literature.
She said students were not consulted on the decision to display Kipling's poem and took action because, according to a Facebook post written by Ms Khan: "We, as an exec team, believe that Kipling stands for the opposite of liberation, empowerment, and human rights - the things that we, as an SU, stand for."
The National Union of Students (NUS) has been encouraging the use of BSL clapping since 2015.
An NUS spokeswoman said: "The hand gesture referred to as 'jazz hands' is the British Sign Language vocabulary for applause. This is designed to support those with disabilities and/or sensory conditions to participate in events.
"Students' unions strive to make their events welcoming to all of their students by acknowledging their experiences and responding to their needs.
"We should all aspire to improve our public spaces so that all members of society feel comfortable and able to contribute fully."
English university bans clapping at concerts and events. The crowd must do "jazz hands" because waving your hands in the air, unlike clapping, encourages an "environment of respect".— Andrew Downie (@adowniebrazil) 2 de octubre de 2018
Manchester University Students take a bow. I am not making this up. https://t.co/WumvXSse3F
"This isn’t about anything being taken away from anyone but rather the chance to assist people who can often feel isolated." @AutismRevised James Sinclair for @MetroUK https://t.co/lHcG1TnoOm— National Autistic Society (@Autism) 2 de octubre de 2018
Comments
I agree. Student Union has banned clapping, cheering and whooping in their events. British Sign Language wants to replace it by using jazz hands. I don´t know what jazz hands means well, but I think it is a way to show your feeling without making a noise. What next? I suppose that this banning is to when there are disabilities and sensory conditions and to not injure these people. That is, I think that there are other events such as in the office, family or other places where there are not people with disabilities that is not banned.
In my opinion, we have to respect everyone but the majority rules´s are what mush regulate behaviour. We can´t limit expression or wording of other people because then we were discriminating. It is not easy to link all feelings but, it seems, that the first of all is the majority and, after, the majority has to respect to the minority. Therefore, when there were people with disabilities or sensory conditions, the majority have to act as they were the minority.
See you.
I think it is important to be considerate to others but surely, there is a limit. We can't expect people to avoid clapping just because there might be a deaf or an autistic person in the audience. What if there was a blind person there too?
There are some cases when we must consider the minority and change our behaviour.
A flashing image on a screen can an epileptic seizure. That is why, the newsreader will always give a warning before news reports which contain camera flashes. (Curiously, I have never heard such warnings on Spanish news programmes)
There was a recent, tragic case of a girl dying because of inadequate food labelling. Traces of nuts can result in death, so it is essential to inform the minority who have an allergy.
On my flight to the UK in the summer, the flight attendant unusual announcement.
He said that there was a passenger aboard who had a serious nut allergy and that they wouldn't be serving nuts. He also told passengers that they weren't allowed to eat nuts on the flight. A pre-recorded announcement in Spanish was played a couple of times.
Was this another case of Health and Safety rules going over the top? Was it absolutely necessary?
I just wonder what that person does when they go to the cinema or a pub.
I agree. The Student Union has banned clapping, cheering and whooping in their events. British Sign Language wants to replace it by using jazz hands. I don´t know what jazz hands means well, but I think it is a way to show your feeling without making a noise. What next? I suppose that this banning is for when there are people with disabilities and sensory conditions and to not injure these people. That is, I think that there are other events such as in the office, family or other places where there are no people with disabilities and it is not banned.
In my opinion, we have to respect everyone but the majority's rules are what must regulate behaviour. We can´t limit expression or wording of other people because then we would be discriminating. It is not easy to consider everyone's feelings but, it seems, that first of all comes the majority and, then, the majority has to respect to the minority. Therefore, when there are people with disabilities or sensory conditions, the majority have to act as if they were the minority.
In my previous comment I meant to say:
The flight attendant made an unusual announcement
Students make mistakes but teachers make typos haha