A Deafening Silence: The Case against Our Schools

This feature was written by Jessie, a peer educator with YouthResouce

School is supposed to be a safe haven. We have social lives that involve friends, sports, clubs, and other activities. But for some youth, even with these things available, school is still a prison, an unsafe place that they hate, or worse, fear.

Sadly, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (GLBTQ) students, or students perceived to be GLBTQ, make up a significant proportion of young people facing troubled school years. Like their straight classmates, they attend public, private, technical, and vocational schools. But far too often, their needs are ignored or dismissed by school systems. School problems are not exclusive to GLBTQ youth, of course. But GLBTQ youth are over represented among those ignored by school administrations, harassed by classmates, and otherwise suffering in school. In fact, GLBTQ students are three times as likely as non-GLBTQ students to feel unsafe in school.*

Middle and high school health curricula rarely cover sexual orientation, just as they seldom address safer sex for GLBTQ youth (if they address safer sex at all.) Most history and government curricula focus not at all on GLBT people, even though some of them have made tremendous contributions to our society. Even when English classes study books written by GLBT authors, sexual orientation is seldom mentioned. Lack of GLBT-related study promotes the misconception that there are few or no GLBT people and that GLBTQ youth don’t matter because there are so few of them. This stigma is difficult to overcome, even with many organizations fighting hard for GLBT equality.

Most schools encourage student activities. They welcome student clubs, like speech and debate, philosophy and language, and sometimes, even religious clubs. But the same schools may prohibit the gay-straight alliances (GSAs), tacitly or openly encouraging stereotypes and homophobia. Yet, 39 percent of teachers in one poll believed that clubs that promote tolerance among GLBTQ and straight students would be “extremely” or “very helpful” in creating safer schools.* Gay, lesbian, and bisexual students who are out may be denied a spot on sports teams, or they may be afraid to try out for a team. School computers may deny students access to GLBTQ-orientated Web sites, because such sites contain “inappropriate content,” include the words ‘gay’ or ‘lesbian’ or ‘sexuality’ or because the sites may be advocacy-oriented. Yet, schools rarely block religious sites, not even those with overt political affiliations.

Every school has policies that, theoretically, ensure equality, prohibit discrimination, and define the consequences of violating the policy. But schools do not always include sexual orientation and gender identity in their discrimination policies, and even when they do, schools may not enforce the policy. This inaction, too, can put GLBT students at risk of verbal harassment and/or physical violence. Students in schools without a GLBT inclusive policy are more likely than others to report encountering serious problems, including homophobic remarks and other harassment due to physical appearance, sexual orientation, or gender expression.* In fact, GLBTQ students are nearly four times as likely as their heterosexual peers to skip classes or to skip entire days of school because they feel unsafe.* It’s no wonder, then that hundreds of GLBTQ students drop out of school each year, losing out on education because of their school’s inadequacy. As many GLBTQ youth face fearful days at school, too many school administrations offer little response and less protection.

Our response? Sometimes silence is louder than words. The Day of Silence, now in its tenth year, is the largest student-led silent protest in history. It has become one of the most productive and effective ways in which the GLBT community creates change in American schools. While only one day each year, the Day of Silence is still an invaluable factor in a much larger safer schools movement. The Day of Silence can open doors for discussion and change in any school. My school (roughly 700 students) is one example where I experienced an amazing Day of Silence.

The Day of Silence started just as any other day in my high school, here in Nowhere, MD, except that the school was oddly quiet. Although hundreds of students chose not to get involved in the protest, the silence of participants somehow echoed in the halls. We wore red shirts; many of us wore stickers; and we all handed out papers (called speaking cards) that were our only form of communication during the Day.

During my final class change on the Day of Silence last year I was walking through the halls when suddenly I heard a boy I knew ask his friend, “Aren’t you ashamed to be participating?” I was considering breaking my vow of silence when a girl turned around to face him, and as she looked him squarely in the face she asked, “Aren’t you ashamed that you’re not?” She did not preach to him and did not tell him he was wrong, but by asking a single question and then walking away she forced him to assess the actions of the Day of Silence participants. This boy heard no speeches on the Day of Silence, but because of one question and the actions of fifty people whose names he knew and who he had grown up with, he apologized to me, his friend and the girl who had asked him if he was ashamed. This year, though he will not be taking a vow of silence, he will be wearing a red t-shirt on the Day of Silence. Clearly, he’s moving in the right direction. I’m just proud to have been a part of it.

Teachers and administrators are beginning to realize the need to step up to the plate in aid of students who face harassment. In one poll, 73 percent of teachers strongly endorsed the view that school personnel have an obligation to ensure a safe and supportive learning environment for GLBT students.*

More GSA’s than ever are being registered in schools nationwide. The number of registered GSAs has grown by about three per day – quite a difference from 1990 when only two GSAs existed. Twenty-two percent of students reported having a GSA or similar student club in their schools and such a club often makes students feel safer.* That’s another step in the right direction. So we know that the Day of Silence is making a difference. We know that the Day of Silence and GSAs are improving the lives of GLBTQ youth in American schools. We also know that more inclusive curricula and policies lead to safer environments for all students. This is why we need to continue working for change.

And there is something you can do. Get involved in your school’s GSA; or, if it doesn’t have one, work to start one. Welcome the involvement of other students, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Enlist the aid of adults as well. Or, you could get active in a local GLBTQ youth group. But get out there, get going, and change the world by changing your corner of it.

*Harris Interactive and GLSEN (2005). From Teasing to Torment: School Climate in America, A Survey of Students and Teachers. New York: GLSEN. To read the full report visit http://www.glsen.org/cgi-bin/iowa/all/news/record/1859.html and see “Related Documents.”

Certain portions of this feature were excerpted with permission from an article about the Day of Silence that Jessie wrote for The Advocate.

The Day of Silence will be observed on April 26, 2006

My Silence Is For All Of Us

In preparation for the June launch of the brand new Voices section, YouthResouce is accepting submissions for the first monthly Reflections Contest for art, stories, poetry, etc. around a particular theme.

Dealing with the theme "My Silence Is For All Of Us," the first Reflections Contest will run May 1 - May 31, 2006. Entries should focus on the Day of Silence Project. Click here for details.

Winners will be announced on the site on the first day of the following month. Each month, three outstanding entries will be honored, and the winners will recieve a cash prizes of $50 (one award per month) or $25 (two awards per month).