Friday, April 16, 2010
Day of Silence 2010
8 comments
Today is the National Day of Silence, a day in which "hundreds of thousands of students nationwide take a vow of silence to bring attention to anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying and harassment in their schools."
According to a 2007 study done by GLSEN, nearly 9 out of 10 LGBT students report verbal, sexual or physical harassment at school and more than 30% report missing at least a day of school in the past month out of fear for their personal safety.
The Day of Silence is close to my heart, because I began participating in it when I was a wee 9th grader in high school, and it unleashed my then-dormant activist side.
It's a great feeling to participate, and I recommend everyone do it at least once. Even if you aren't a student anymore. But if you aren't comfortable with actually staying silent all day, there are plenty of other things you can do to support the cause, if you visit the Day of Silence website.
Here's what people who walked into the library on my campus were confronted with today:
Posts
April 18, 2010 at 10:03 PM
This is great. I am so glad that young adolescents are becoming involved and helping out this cause. LGBT students are completely equal to every other student and i'm glad young teenagers see and support that. This shows that our next generations to come are only going to become greater and greater. Keep fighting on!
April 19, 2010 at 11:42 AM
I think that this is a really awesome thing. I've heard of this protest before but I never really knew what it was about. I think its a really positive and powerful way of getting a point across to people. Im sad that I didnt read this until today though, because I feel like I would have participated. Maybe I will make my own day of silence as a personal protest! :)
April 19, 2010 at 6:30 PM
Although I've never participated myself, students at my high school used to do this, sponsored by the LGBT club. They wore signs on their chests to explain what the protest was about and it really worked to catch people's attention. While no one at my high school was really harassed (at least, not to my knowledge), this day helped make everyone aware that harassment was going on in other places! It especially helped because so many students participated, not just students in the LGBT club. It was really cool! As Kelsey said, keep fighting on!
April 19, 2010 at 11:53 PM
This is so fantastic! I've never participated in this and in my very small high school, only one girl ever did. Every year i remember her walking with a sign saying "support LGBT" I always wondered what if i did it, and now i wish i had. I'm so happy to see that people are treating this as seriously as they should. Noone should be ashamed of who they are for any reason. Day of Silence should be on the calendar, someone should check into that. :)
April 20, 2010 at 10:03 AM
Taking a day of silence actually says a lot. This is a really powerful thing and I think that if you can go through it and be silent all day for the sake of others then do it. This is a chance to show that everyone is equal, even LGBT students and adults. You don't have to be a student to be accepting. I personally have never participated but I have friends and other students in school who do. People give them weird looks and say things to them when really they are the ones saying the most.
April 20, 2010 at 10:16 AM
This is awesome. Back in high school, we did this and it seemed to have such an impact. What people don't realize is that words hurt and some people say things without thinking about how it may affect another. Little words or snippy comments can impact an individual far worse than one might thing. Harassment, bullying, and etc. are caused by words. Keeping silent for a day is a great way to protest against those means. I think this is a great thing that has been started and should be continued nationwide.
April 20, 2010 at 10:24 AM
The day of silence is an awesome event. Yong people are helping out this cause and i am happy to see that they are supporting it. In my high school years, we always had a day of silence. Almost all student participated and i am so glad that more and more are participating.
April 26, 2010 at 4:12 PM
The Day of Silence is great. It's a peaceful - yet effective protest. It was a pretty big deal in my high school and people got really involved. My freshman year I remember wondering what it was all about, so I asked my friend who was participating - and though she couldn't talk she wrote on a piece of paper that it was to protest the harassing of and violence towards homosexuals. It's great that people can make an impact in such a simple way.