Dayton Students Participate in National Day of Silence

Friday, April 15 was a quiet day at Dayton.

More than 150 students at Jonathan Dayton High School participated in the National Day of Silence vowing to silence themselves for an entire day to bring attention to people suffering from anti-gay name-calling, bullying and harassment.

Students carried "speaking cards" that let people know they were choosing not to speak.  To respect those who participated, many teachers crafted lessons on Friday in a manner such that talking was not necessary.

Organizing participation in the Day of Silence was the first major undertaking of the school's Gay-Straight Alliance since its establishment this past winter. Club advisors Karen Chomko, Drew Krumholz and Elizabeth Rooney-Kuhn, all teachers at Dayton, facilitated discussions leading up to the event, and aided students in designing and selling "Acceptance" t-shirts for the occasion.

At the end of  the school day, students debriefed over snacks.  Many were pleasantly surprised by the success of the event and its impact.

"We printed up 250 [speaking] cards and gave out most of them," said Chomko, a freshman English teacher.  "This place was quiet."

While individual students at Dayton have participated on their own in the past, this was the first time large numbers of people joined in collectively.

The day served as the culmination of the school's first "Turn Your Back on Hate" week.  During the course of the week, students aired public service announcements during the morning announcements about bullying and harrassment.

The Day of Silence is a project of the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network.