Multiple students participated in The Day of Silence today. There were no stickers or shirts or anything like that. It was just the speaking cards that our library had let us copy in school and the message written on our hands.

We were silent the whole day, we didn't stop. All of us kept on going throughout the whole day. We showed the cards to our teachers, handed them out at school. The response was amazing. There are about 1750 Kids in our school. All of us together got at least 150 to take part, mostly sophomores, juniors, and seniors. The teachers were very understanding, and proud that we were sticking up for something that we believed in. One of my close friends, who just got outed that she was bisexual, wore as many gay pride items that she could. I got a rainbow ribbon and wore it all day. The response was amazing. There were a lot of people that thought we were crazy, but we kept on going.

I got one of the most homophobic kids in my school take part after explaining this all to him. In turn that got many more to help out. At the end of the day, everyone was smiling, communicating between notebooks, texting only if it was vital and everything else. I have never been more proud of my school. Everyone who had participated had found something rainbow to wear, or had asked someone to draw a rainbow on them. There were a lot of tears to share today. I had a piece of paper on my shirt which listed all the people who had been victims of hate crimes, and everyone felt it. It was an amazing day, and most everyone understood.

Thank you for uniting a school.
Thank you for helping people understand.
I am one more person who hopefully made a difference.

Comments:

comment by itsjustme on Apr 27, 2008 3:34 PM ()

It did. I was very proud of how respectful (most) of the students and faculty were to the message we were trying to convey. There are always the few who ruin it for others but thankfully they were in the minority this time, and the Day of Silence turned out to be a success.

reply by mattguru18 on Apr 29, 2008 12:56 PM ()

Woohoo! You should be so proud! I know I am!
AJ

comment by lunarhunk on Apr 26, 2008 8:40 PM ()

I'm most proud of the teachers and students and a few parents who actively participated in making the day work. It was due to their participation that made the difference.

reply by mattguru18 on Apr 29, 2008 12:58 PM ()

that is fantastic Matt! so good to hear of a school participating in this with no problems.

comment by elkhound on Apr 26, 2008 5:56 AM ()

We were very lucky the day went so smoothly

reply by mattguru18 on Apr 26, 2008 12:29 PM ()

AWESOME!!!! I had a presentation I had to give and many many other items to take care of so Unfortunately I was not able to do the same!! Congrats on your schools unification.

comment by panthurdreams on Apr 25, 2008 8:12 PM ()

I don't think signing would be permissible because it is still a form of speaking. Just my thoughts.

reply by hopefields on Apr 26, 2008 6:19 PM ()

Matt asked you a question the other day and didn't see your answer and thought it was a good one--would signing be permissible on a 'day of silence'??

reply by greatmartin on Apr 26, 2008 12:56 PM ()

Thanks!

reply by mattguru18 on Apr 26, 2008 12:40 PM ()

Glad you didn't have any problems--the students here ran into nonsupport from schools, teachers and parents!!

comment by greatmartin on Apr 25, 2008 8:11 PM ()

Sorry to hear that
There were two middle-schools here who wanted to participate but were unable to. Their principal wouldn't allow it. Both schools were parochial (Catholic) and they believed it would send the students the wrong message. How crazy is that?!
Anyway, it was a great day and I hope we did some good.

reply by mattguru18 on Apr 26, 2008 12:43 PM ()

Awesome! Good for you, Matt! It sounds like it turned out very well and even through your silence many hearts were touched. You are to be commended on your stance and your determination. I'm so glad it went so well. Congratulations!

comment by hopefields on Apr 25, 2008 8:01 PM ()

Thank you
It went better than I thought it would. We were a bit concerned that our principal would last minute decide to back down and not allow us to do it, but she was great about it.

reply by mattguru18 on Apr 26, 2008 12:44 PM ()

comment by nittineedles on Apr 25, 2008 6:06 PM ()

reply by mattguru18 on Apr 26, 2008 12:45 PM ()

comment by thepirateinthecity on Apr 25, 2008 4:53 PM ()

Thanks, Chris

reply by mattguru18 on Apr 26, 2008 12:45 PM ()