Hey everyone! Today/Tomorrow all of the teams are teaming up to help raise awareness about the Day of Silence! Throughout tomorrow, each of VP's teams shall each be hosting events in honour of the day so be sure to keep your eyes open and to participate to help show your support. Shout out to Krystle for the amazing layout!
Day of Silence was first introduced by GLSEN, an American organisation dedicated to ensuring that LGBT+ children have safe and affirming schools to attend. It was formed to improve an education system that too frequently allows its lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) students to be bullied and/or discriminated. They state their objective as:
"At GLSEN, we want every student, in every school, to be valued and treated with respect, regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. We believe that all students deserve a safe and affirming school environment where they can learn and grow."
One of the ways in which they aim to do this is through Day of Silence, a student-led national event organised in schools, to raise awareness of the silencing effects of anti-LGBTQ name-calling, bullying and harassment in schools. Students from middle school to college ages take a vow of silence in an effort to encourage schools and classmates to address the problem of anti-LGBTQ behavior by illustrating the silencing effect of bullying and harassment on LGBTQ students and those perceived to be LGBTQ.
Participation on the Day of Silence can come in many forms. The most obvious one is staying silent all day. However, this is not always possible. GLSEN always ask that if someone of authority, such as your teacher, asks you to speak that you must reply. They also hand out 'Speaking Cards', which explain why you and your peers are being silent. They Encourage students to carry the card around on the Day of Silence as a way of silently answering questions about their participation. Others simply cannot hack not talking all day, and that's fine. They suggest another way of staying silent can be staying silent on social media for the entire day instead. For ways to participate and how to prepare and introduce a Day of Silence to your school, check out this website here.
All of the videos linked in this article are important. Please do not ignore them, by any means. I especially ask of you to watch Undyne's Video about Day of Silence, too (the first video linked). In the video, she talks about the Day and why it is important to her. She also mentions her reasoning for introducing the Day to Virtual Popstar, even if the majority of the site is not American, and the importance of introducing it to so many people. I also suggest you check out the description of her video... just a hint....
To react to the daily news you need to be logged in.
Private
Private
0
0
0
0
