Why our School Still Needs the Day of Silence

First of all, I'd like to apologize to Mr. Mayo because this blog post is a day late. I'd now like to point out that this is the first time that I have had a late blog post which is more than can be said for much of CAP. I am also not trying to cover up the fact that this is late by manipulating the date that it says that it was posted. Right now, I am trying to juggle all of my homework, the school musical, which opens at the end of the week, and my insomnia. I'm sorry.

Now then, as some of you know, last Friday (April 19) was the Day of Silence. For anyone who doesn't know, the Day of Silence is an event sponsored by the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN). According to GLSEN, Day of Silence is:

"a student-led national event that brings attention to anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying and harassment in schools. Students from middle school to college take a vow of silence in an effort to encourage schools and classmates to address the problem of anti-LGBT behavior by illustrating the silencing effect of bullying and harassment on LGBT students and those perceived to be LGBT."

In other words, on the Day of Silence, students at school are silent to raise awareness about anti-LGBTQ bullying.

This year, it seemed to me that there was a much smaller group of students participating at our school than there was in previous years. To be fair, this year, our school's Day of Silence wasn't all that well planned or well advertised. It was mentioned on the morning announcements, but let's be realistic. Most people don't actually listen to the morning announcements. So some students just didn't know it was going on until they got to class that day. Some students didn't participate because they disagreed with the message. In other words, these are the people who think that it's wrong to identify as LGBTQ. That's fine. Their entitled to that opinion, although, to be clear, the Day of Silence isn't really about whether or not it's ok to be gay. It's about the fact that it's wrong to bully. Some people didn't think that they could keep from talking for a full day. Other students just didn't care. Which is also fine. 

The thing that bothered me is a different group of people. Those are the people who feel that our school doesn't need a Day of Silence because it's already so accepting. I take serious issue with this idea. For starters, our school is enormous, so it's rather hard to say that our school as a whole is much of anything (except for maybe diverse). Because of the size of the school, there are tons of different types of people and a lot of people don't see that far outside their own group. Just because the people who you are surrounded by are accepting and you've never seen anyone being bullied does not mean that it never happens elsewhere in our school. 

I'd say that the intolerance that exists at our school is more subtle. You probably wont get beat up if you identify as gay. It's also less likely that you'll be a social pariah because of it. Which is great. It's more likely that you will get strange looks or overhear whispered comments about your actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. And honestly, that is still a problem and it is still harmful.

You don't have to dig all that deep to find the intolerance and ignorance that exists here. For a feature story that I was writing for my journalism project, I interviewed random students about their perception of transgeder people. I was astonished by both the transphobia and homophobia that I heard throughout my interviews. When asked if they knew what it meant to be transgender, one person told me, "yeah, it's the same as being a faggot." Halfway through the interview, this person's friend chimed in with the comment, "we should kill all the gays." He accompanied the statement with shooting noises and motions. Then he repeated himself. Twice. At another table, one person informed me that her sister was a lesbian. When she said this, her friends all looked at her as if she had said that her sister was from Mars. It was rather disconcerting. At multiple other tables I was told that it was wrong and unnatural, both to identify as gay and to identify as transgender. So you see, just because you personally don't see it doesn't mean like this sentiment isn't there. 

This is not to say that our school is terrible. In comparison to a lot of schools and places in general, this school is pretty accepting. I'm merely saying that it's not quite as accepting as a lot of people seem to think it is because they have not personally seen or witnessed any issues. 

Additionally, I'd argue that the point of Day of Silence is not just to improve your specific school, but to raise awareness on an issue in general. Our school may be relatively accepting, but the same can not be said for many other schools across the country. I think that it sends a powerful message when people across the country are silent in solidarity with the people who go to schools where bullying and harassment is a big problem. 

There are also people who don't do Day of Silence because they think that you shouldn't combat silence with silence. In stead, people need to speak out. I don't see the Day of Silence as fighting silence with silence. Rather, I see it as a way to raise awareness of an issue so that people realize that there is something that needs to be fought against. Sometimes, the silence of many voices can be powerful. It reminds people of an issue in a way that is subtle but difficult to ignore. I think of the Day of silence as a way to get people thinking as opposed to a day meant to fix all of the problems.

Image source: http://www.dosomething.org/actnow/actionguide/national-day-of-silence