Friday, April 16, 2010

Shhhhhh!


Today we are silent for those who cannot speak.

Today, my school is participating in the Day of Silence; sponsored by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), the Day of Silence is the largest, single student-led action for creating safer schools for all students, regardless of their sexual orientations, gender identity, or gender expression. The Day of Silence began in 1996 at the University of Virginia, with over 150 students participating, and it has grown exponentially.  In 2008, hundreds of thousands of students at over 8,000 schools participated. The movement aims to bring attention to the silence gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people must face in schools where they cannot express themselves openly. It is a pledge that we will NOT be silent if we witness bullying or harassment, that we will stand up for what we believe is right.

Because our students have dyslexia, and their class time and participation are crucial to their academic success, we made a deal with them that we hoped they would speak during class time and spend their time between classes, during break, and at lunch expressing their silence. In the spirit of the day, however, many of our teachers planned silent lessons, and I was impressed with how well our students adapted to silent group projects with independent reading and writing and silent presentations.  At morning assembly, at least 62 members of our upper school community signed up to participate.  Our upper school includes approximately 40 teachers and 65 students so I think that's a pretty good showing. All of our students have learning differences; they all know what it is like to feel different, to feel ostracized, to feel judged on the basis of how they appear to others. I think it would be easy for any one of them to decide that their own issues are all they can handle, but they haven't. It's almost as if they recognize that we've given them a learning environment that is safe and secure and recognizes their learning differences, and now they want to go one step further to make it safe for each other's sexual or gender differences.

I'm not sure how successful they're being at not talking. I'm still hearing a lot of talking in the halls and walking down the hill. Some of them are doing a great job. I have fallen off the wagon a few times; it's simply too hard to help run a school without opening one's mouth, but walking through the hallways without speaking and scribbling frantic notes to my colleagues makes me think about just how hard it is to have to think about everything I say. In the end, I don't really think it matters how successful each individual is; what matters is that they're thinking, and thought is where we plant the seeds for change.

I have straight, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender friends. I have friends who have straight, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender family members. Would it not be easier to say "I have friends?" Today I am silent for the students who look to us to make their school safe; more importantly, I am silent for the students who showed us what they can accomplish if we give them a voice.

1 comment:

Kyle said...

I've never heard of this before - what a great movement! I hope it continues to spread...