Day of Silence Nears, Bringing Protestors For and Against National School Event
by Ambrose Aban
EDGE Contributor
Thursday Mar 20, 2008
As we approach the annual "Day of Silence," educators, parents and students across the country are grappling with two opposing camps on a day dedicated fighting anti-gay bullying, harassment, name-calling and even murder in America’s schools.
The 12th National Annual Day of Silence is scheduled for Friday, April 25. Organized as a grassroots project, it was conceived by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) in collaboration with the United States Student Association (USSA). Students are encouraged to obtain permission from their school before organizing and participating in the Day of Silence, though it is not required. On that day, students will keep silent to remember especially Lawrence King, the California student shot and killed by his 15-year-old classmate at a school in Oxnard, Calif., in February.
"Students will volunteer to stay quiet all day and hand out cards to explain their actions," GLSEN spokesperson Daryl Presgraves explains. "Students can stay silent at lunch and in between classes. They can also keep silence when they wake up and before bedtime. It is easy to participate." Students themselves appear to be firmly in favor of the Day of Silence, with more than 300 schools in the country scheduled to take part.
But a nationwide coalition of Christian and "pro-family" groups led by the American Family Association (AFA) oppose the Day of Silence. These groups are calling for parents to keep children out of schools that day. AFA head Donald E. Wildmon is urging schools and students to boycott the Day of Silence. He calls it "a deliberate, irresponsible nationwide push to promote homosexual lifestyle in public schools."
News in full: www.edgenewyork.com (Edge Publications New York)
by Ambrose Aban
EDGE Contributor
Thursday Mar 20, 2008
As we approach the annual "Day of Silence," educators, parents and students across the country are grappling with two opposing camps on a day dedicated fighting anti-gay bullying, harassment, name-calling and even murder in America’s schools.
The 12th National Annual Day of Silence is scheduled for Friday, April 25. Organized as a grassroots project, it was conceived by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) in collaboration with the United States Student Association (USSA). Students are encouraged to obtain permission from their school before organizing and participating in the Day of Silence, though it is not required. On that day, students will keep silent to remember especially Lawrence King, the California student shot and killed by his 15-year-old classmate at a school in Oxnard, Calif., in February.
"Students will volunteer to stay quiet all day and hand out cards to explain their actions," GLSEN spokesperson Daryl Presgraves explains. "Students can stay silent at lunch and in between classes. They can also keep silence when they wake up and before bedtime. It is easy to participate." Students themselves appear to be firmly in favor of the Day of Silence, with more than 300 schools in the country scheduled to take part.
But a nationwide coalition of Christian and "pro-family" groups led by the American Family Association (AFA) oppose the Day of Silence. These groups are calling for parents to keep children out of schools that day. AFA head Donald E. Wildmon is urging schools and students to boycott the Day of Silence. He calls it "a deliberate, irresponsible nationwide push to promote homosexual lifestyle in public schools."
News in full: www.edgenewyork.com (Edge Publications New York)
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