Counselor explains Day of Silence

By Berenice Garcia, Lupita Gonzalez, & Corinne Van Lier

There are a lot of holidays in April from Easter to Secretaries Day to Earth Day, but there is also a holiday that many of you probably haven’t heard about. It’s called Day of Silence. The Day of Silence was founded by students at the University of Virginia in 1996, and has become the largest student-led action towards creating a safer school for all students. The Day of Silence is a day when people pledge to remain silent for a full day to raise awareness and put a stop to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) name-calling, bullying and harassment in schools. We were curious about this day, so we asked Mr. Sackley some questions.

Q: When will this activity be taking place?
A: The Day of Silence lasts a whole day, and it's national day is always the third Friday of April, which was celebrated on April 16 this year.
Q: Can anyone participate?
A: You have a right to participate in the Day of Silence and other expressions of your opinion at a public school during non-instructional time. The breaks between classes, before and after the school day, and any other free times during your day are included. You do NOT have the right to remain silent during class time if a teacher or any other adult asks you to speak. It is recommended that if you choose to participate, you should talk to your teachers ahead of time, tell them what you plan to do, and ask them if it would be okay for you to communicate in writing.
Q: Will it be happening here at Waldo?
A: I don't know if any students or staff will be participating in the activity.
Q: Will you be participating or supporting this activity?
A: I support the activity because no student should be bullied or harassed for any reason. As a staff member, it would be difficult not to speak during the day because of all of my responsibilities that require me to be verbal.


Mr. Sackley was helpful in sharing about this day, and we think that the Day of Silence should be recognized in all U.S. schools. This would help people to not feel intimidated by other people and show other students that are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender that people really care about what they are going through. If you’d like to know more about this subject please visit
http://www.dayofsilence.org/ for more information.