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17-year-old makes strong case for granting the deaf drivers' licences - JAMAICAOBSERVER.COM
Why should the Government give deaf persons permission to drive?
That was the US$1,500 question that 17-year-old Christophe Phillips asked at the Altamont Court Hotel in Kingston Saturday.
Phillips, a student at Lister Mair Gilby School for the Deaf, placed first in the Caribbean District of Optimist International's Communication Contest for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and won for himself US$1,500 in scholarship money.
The contest, the equivalent of Optimist's oratorical competition for speaking children, asked contestants to ponder the topic: 'Why me? Why not?'
In response to whether the Government should grant deaf persons, such as himself, drivers' licences, Phillips asked, "Why not?"
"They argue that I am deaf and so I will not be able to hear anything that is happening around me and pose a serious risk to other drivers," Phillips said in his winning presentation.
"That is, however, no truer than a blind man being unable to read because he cannot see. It is simply a matter of a substitution of the senses. We use our eyes to hear in the same way a blind man uses his hands to see.
"I draw your attention to the high rate of motor vehicle accidents reported on the news each day. I have but one question: How many of these drivers were deaf? Not one," Phillips said. "All of them were hearing people who the Government happily granted the right to drive."
Second and third place went to Petrena Dolphy and Semay Barrett, both of the Caribbean Christian Centre for the Deaf at Cassia Park in Kingston.
Phillips, who also received cash prizes and gifts from local sponsors, further argued that being deaf does not make him any less of a person.
"Why not give me the same opportunities that are given to other law-abiding citizens of this country? If I am allowed to own my own home, access a good education, marry the woman of my choice, choose a career that I am comfortable in and even buy a car, then why not allow me to drive it?" he asked.
"[My deafness] does not hinder me from becoming a productive contributor to society. So then, why is it that in the eyes of the law, my deafness hinders me from getting a drivers' licence? Their question is, 'Why me?' My answer is, 'Why not?'"
Why should the Government give deaf persons permission to drive?
That was the US$1,500 question that 17-year-old Christophe Phillips asked at the Altamont Court Hotel in Kingston Saturday.
Phillips, a student at Lister Mair Gilby School for the Deaf, placed first in the Caribbean District of Optimist International's Communication Contest for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and won for himself US$1,500 in scholarship money.
The contest, the equivalent of Optimist's oratorical competition for speaking children, asked contestants to ponder the topic: 'Why me? Why not?'
In response to whether the Government should grant deaf persons, such as himself, drivers' licences, Phillips asked, "Why not?"
"They argue that I am deaf and so I will not be able to hear anything that is happening around me and pose a serious risk to other drivers," Phillips said in his winning presentation.
"That is, however, no truer than a blind man being unable to read because he cannot see. It is simply a matter of a substitution of the senses. We use our eyes to hear in the same way a blind man uses his hands to see.
"I draw your attention to the high rate of motor vehicle accidents reported on the news each day. I have but one question: How many of these drivers were deaf? Not one," Phillips said. "All of them were hearing people who the Government happily granted the right to drive."
Second and third place went to Petrena Dolphy and Semay Barrett, both of the Caribbean Christian Centre for the Deaf at Cassia Park in Kingston.
Phillips, who also received cash prizes and gifts from local sponsors, further argued that being deaf does not make him any less of a person.
"Why not give me the same opportunities that are given to other law-abiding citizens of this country? If I am allowed to own my own home, access a good education, marry the woman of my choice, choose a career that I am comfortable in and even buy a car, then why not allow me to drive it?" he asked.
"[My deafness] does not hinder me from becoming a productive contributor to society. So then, why is it that in the eyes of the law, my deafness hinders me from getting a drivers' licence? Their question is, 'Why me?' My answer is, 'Why not?'"
