The G.S.A.
The mission of the club, which was started by students in 2006, is to help make Day Middle School a safe place for all students. In particular, students in the club want to end bullying, harassment, prejudice, and negative language that relates to sexual orientation and gender identity. All students and their families should feel safe and included in our school community, whether they identify as gay, straight, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender. Past projects have included organizing for The Day of Silence (see below) and creating public service announcements to air on W.O.R.D.
If you're sick of hearing "That's so gay," if you want to help stop the bullying and harassment, if you believe in social justice, if you want to be part of the solution - stop by and check it out!
Below is a link for a short video about the National Day of Silence:
The Day of Silence
Wednesday, April 11th, 2011 (Day 1)
What is The Day of Silence?
The Day of Silence is a student-led day of action when participating students across the country take a day-long vow of silence. The purpose of their silence is to recognize and raise awareness about the bullying, name-calling, harassment, and prejudice -- in effect, the silencing -- experienced by gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) students and their allies. When people experience or witness this type of bullying and negativity, they often end up feeling that they must remain silent and hide part of their own identity or that of family members. Students participating in the Day of Silence are trying to demonstrate how unjust such prejudice is and, through their vow of silence, hope to show how much we as a community miss out on when we don’t respect and appreciate all differences. The motto for the day is: What Will You Do To End The Silence?
At Day Middle School, students have reported name-calling, bullying, and harassment related to sexual orientation and gender identity. Some examples include terms and phrases such as “That’s so gay,” “faggot,” “dyke,” and “No homo.” This type of negativity, name-calling and harassment makes students feel unsafe in their own school and is not acceptable. Participating in The Day of Silence is a way for students to take a bold stand and get the message out that this type of bullying, harassment, and name-calling is unacceptable at Day Middle School.
How can you get involved?
1. Pick up a Day of Silence form from the library. Make sure you understand the purpose of the day and that the reason you want to participate is to help raise the awareness of yourself and others about the silencing that is faced by people in the GLBT community. If you want to show your support without taking a vow of silence, you can swing by the library to pick up an ally sticker.
2. Consider the fact that students who participate in the day will attempt to refrain from speaking during the entire day, especially when it is the most difficult – during lunch and in the hallways. Also, be aware that the silence is meant to symbolize or represent a person’s inability to communicate something important about him/herself, so efforts to communicate through notes and gestures are avoided as well.
3. Share information about The Day of Silence with your family and let your family know that you are interested in participating in order to help make your school a safer place for everyone.
4. Speak to the teachers whose classes you have on Friday about your plans to participate in The Day of Silence. Let them know that you would like to try not speaking for the entire day and ask whether that wish can be honored in their classes. Ask teachers to sign the other side of this sheet to indicate that you have communicated with them.
5. Return this sheet, with all of your teachers’ signatures, to one of the teachers listed at the bottom of the form by Tuesday, April 10. You will then receive a sticker to wear on The Day of Silence and a card to carry which will explain what you are doing. No participant stickers will be handed out on Wednesday.
6. We will be hosting a Breaking The Silence gathering at the end of the day in room 104 for interested students who want to make some noise and share in a discussion about the day. Come on by!
