Day of Silence

Today, students across the country are participating in the “Day of Silence,” a project of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN). The “Day of Silence” is a student-led day of action where concerned students, from middle school to college, take some form of a vow of silence to bring attention to the name-calling, bullying and harassment – or the silencing – experienced by GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender) students and their friends.

Here are some statistics provided to me by the GLBT youth online social networking site ExperienceProject.com that point out the bleak reality for GLBT students:

• Over 80% of GLBT teens report severe feelings of isolation, having no one to talk to, and being distanced from friends and family because of their sexual orientation.
• 37% of GLBT youth, grades 9-12, have attempted suicide (they are 2 to 3 times likely than straight youth) often because they feel they have no where to turn to share their story and believe they are alone in their struggle.
• Four out of five GLBT teens claim they don’t have a single adult they feel comfortable opening up to about their sexuality.

So what is the Day of Silence all about? Here are 4 truths from the Day of Silence website about why the day exists and what participating in in means:

1. The Day of Silence’s purpose is to bring attention to anti-GLBT name-calling, bullying and harassment: The goal is to make schools safer for all students, regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity/expression (nearly 9 out of 10 LGBT students experience harassment at school).
2. Hundreds of thousands of students of all beliefs, backgrounds and sexual orientations participate in the Day of Silence: Anti-GLBT bullying and harassment affects all students.
3. Day of Silence participants encourage schools to implement proven solutions to address anti-GLBT name-calling, bullying and harassment.
4. The day is a positive educational experience: The Day of Silence is an opportunity for students to work toward improving school climate for all students.

Since I’m not a student anymore, I can’t participate in the classroom, but I can show my support through Smart Girls Know, which is why I’m posting this blog. But what can you do to show your support for the Day of Silence? Here are some suggestions from the Day of Silence blog:

• Be silent
• Talk
• Wear red
• Wear rainbow
• Wear any color
• Tweet the Silence
• Silence your tweets
• Blog the silence
• Silence your blog
• Whatever you do, be respectful, especially of others who are observing the Day of Silence, but bring attention to the issues of anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying and harrasment in schools.