Deaf students at the Passaic County Technical Institute have had questions about the recent tragic rise in violence in American schools. Most of the questions revolve around why such atrocities happen. However, some of their questions were specific to the disability of deafness. What might happen to the deaf students during a lockdown drill? How would they hear the announcement? What if they were told to freeze? The students wondered what they could do to make sure all deaf students were safe in today's school and in our society.

Deaf students and hearing American Sign Language students decided to not only answer these questions, but to put together a plan of action for dealing with deaf students during a lockdown or emergency. The students also went a step further and decided to reach out to the local law enforcement academy and police. The students put together a presentation to educate law enforcement officials about how to handle a lock-down or emergency involving students who are deaf. The students also created wallet size cards containing emergency signs such as “stop”, emergency” and “help”, as well as a 24 hour emergency interpreter hotline phone number. The goal was to make officers aware of the deaf students needs and also to address any questions or concerns they might have.

The students also realized that deaf students would need to be educated on what they should or shouldn't do in emergency situations or situations involving law enforcement (ex. a deaf person is pulled over by a policeman on the road). PCTI students have traveled to many schools in New Jersey that have deaf education programs. Bruce Street School for the Deaf was lucky enough to be able to visit with and view the students' presentation. The goal is not only to teach the students what to do, but to standardize what is being done at schools with deaf students.