Day of Silence
Today is the National Day of Silence during which students who choose to do so will remain silent all day to draw attention to anti-LGBTQ name calling, harassment, bullying, and violence in schools.
Today, many of my own high school students are courageously remaining silent all day to bring light to these important issues, and for that, I applaud them.
Today, however, I have decided not to remain silent. As much as I believe in LGBTQ rights and in preventing anti-LGBTQ violence and harassment, I simply cannot remain silent today. Of course, some of this is practical – when you teach high school students, a warning glare on a Friday only goes so far – but some of it is a sense of responsibility to pick up where the students’ silence has left off and make other students in my classes aware of what these students are doing and why. I began each class this Friday by talking about the Day of Silence and its importance in my classes, and I plan to continue this all day.
This is something I’ve, admittedly, never done before. Usually, I just tell my participating students that they’re doing a good thing and move on. For someone so involved in activism, this is unusual, I know, but keep in mind that I teach in a very conservative community. We are lucky enough to have a Gay-Straight Alliance in our school (which I assisted in sponsoring last year), but it is met with some contention in the community. So, as an untenured teacher in our district, I was weary of ever saying or doing anything more. This year, however, the Day of Silence falls while all of my classes are reading A Raisin in the Sunby Lorraine Hansberry – a play about racism and discrimination in 1950’s Chicago. The link was too strong to ignore, and I felt it was time to make the link between discrimination based on race and discrimination based on sexual orientation more clear for my students.
I expected my little spiel to be met with at least some contention today, but so far, I’ve been pleasantly surprised. My students have been engaged in discussion about the Day of Silence and about what they see around them regarding these issues in school. Some students have taken on being silent for the rest of the day because they’ve seen some of the silent students being antagonized for their actions today. Some of them are silent to support a friend who is being silent. Some of them are silent and are coming out to their friends for the first time. Some even gave me tips about how to be a silent teacher next year.
My students continually amaze me with their compassion and courage. Today, it may be a little quieter in my classes, but that has allowed for some amazing discussion and important activism. And, most importantly, it has made some students think about what they say and how it affects people and what they can do to take a stand if they see bullying or harassment in their community.
This post is cross-posted at Gender Across Borders.
In my high school, straight allies are hard to come by. Perhaps, there once were, but they all eventually graduated. However, stereotypical, homophobic jocks are not hard to come by. I remember studying history in my spare time and discovering that the historical figures we learned about in history class were actually open homosexuals and bisexuals. I applaud you for daring to address the elephant in the room. Believe it or not, even the occasional honor student can be a homophobe who uses the derogatory “f” word freely.
Anne –
Thank you for your comment. I, too, agree that it’s not just the stereotypical, homophobic jocks who are terrorizing LGBTQ youth. In fact, it’s usually not someone who fits the stereotype, and that’s why it’s so difficult to combat as a teacher.