Today is the Day of Silence, a campaign by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) to raise awareness of the bullying and harassment of LGBT students by taking a vow of silence for the day.
The campaign site has some great resources, including Day of Silence speaking cards, information for educators and families, and (PDF) tips for the last-minute organizer.
What are you doing to show your support?
Thank you for reminding me! I’ll be at school today for a conference and will hopefully be able to spread awareness there. I’m planning on posting a link on facebook to dayofsilence.org too.
Sadly, I forgot about this- my little sister, however, didn’t. She took a marker and wrote day of silence up her legs.
She’s thirteen and a little awesome at times.
I’m one of the advisors of our schools GSA, and we had about 75 kids participating. I also ran my 90 minute study hall as a silent advisory in support of participants; I expected a little resistance to that, but the kids were AWESOME. I told them if they were uncomfortable with that show of support I would be happy to sign them library passes or send them to work with other teachers, but not only did almost all of them stay, but they invited friends to come down and work quietly. So respectful, and a few signed on to continue participating for the rest of the day!
This is my first year at this school as faculty, so I didn’t know the local traditions for this day. And I couldn’t get in touch with my school’s GSA equivalent, alas, so I couldn’t participate in any meaningful way. :(
Cricket, your sister rocks!
I will be “celebrating” Day of Silence by calling out privileged people on their bullshit. I have been silent for far too long already.