Does "talking" via the internet count? I can't decide. The point of the Day of Silence is to demonstrate what happens to a society where people are silenced because of who they are and who they love. Therefore, it seems like any kind of communication ought to be kept to a minimum. At the same time, I feel that, the more people who know about the day, who understand what it means, the more awareness is raised.
Why Does It Matter?
Here are just a few statistics from http://www.pflagphoenix.org/education/youth_stats.html
* Suicide is the leading cause of death among gay and lesbian youth.
* Gay and lesbian youth are 2 to 6 times more likely to attempt suicide than heterosexual youth.
* Over 30% of all reported teen suicides each year are committed by gay and lesbian youth.
* Approximately 28% of gay and lesbian youth drop out of high school because of discomfort (due to verbal and physical abuse) in the school environment.
* Gay and lesbian youth’s discomfort stems from fear of name calling and physical harm.
* Gay and lesbian youth are at greater risk for school failure than heterosexual children. Academic failure, lack of student involvement and low commitment to school are profound for gay and lesbian youth because schools are neither safe, healthy nor productive places for them to learn.
* Teenage students (gay AND straight) say the worst harassment in school is being called ‘gay’.
* In a national survey, youth (gay AND straight) described being called “lesbian” or “gay” as the most deeply upsetting form of sexual harassment they experienced.
* Gay students hear anti-gay slurs as often as 26 times each day; faculty intervention occurs in only about 3% of those cases.
* In Seattle, 34% of students who described themselves as gay, lesbian or bisexual reported being the target of anti-gay harassment or violence at school or on the way to or from school, compared to 6% of heterosexual students.
* Gay and lesbian youth live, work and attempt to learn in constant fear of physical harm at school.
* 27% of gay and lesbian youth have been physically hurt by another student.
* In 53 schools in Washington State, 77 incidents of anti-gay harassment and violence have been reported in the past 3 years, with 34 of these incidents (44%) serious enough to warrant possible criminal allegations.
How I Am Involved
This is my second year as a full participant in the Day of Silence. I teach all day without talking. I use a combination of writing on the white board and pantomime to get my kids focused and working for the day. Even though it's supposed to be a "youth movement", I think it's important for youth to have adults who actively demonstrate their support of the activity and the people who are participating in it.
Here's the spiel:
On the National Day of Silence 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.
Today I am silent. I am silent to show my support of all gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender youth. I am joining many people nationally to protest the harassment, inequality, prejudice, discrimination, and violence faced by LGBT youth in schools.
INFO ABOUT THE DAY OF SILENCE From http://www.dayofsilence.org/content/getinformation.html
Sponsored by GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, the National Day of Silence is a day of action in which students across the country take some form of a vow of silence to call attention to the silencing effect of anti-LGBT bullying and harassment in schools. Through their activities students can speak out against harassment and organize for change for their schools and communities.
The Day of Silence is a Tool for Change. Organizing a Day of Silence (DOS) activity or event can be a positive tool for change-both personally and community-wide. By taking a vow of silence, you're making a powerful statement about the important issue of anti-LGBT bullying. When you organize others to join you that message becomes louder and louder. You can use this attention as a building block in your plans for larger action.
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