Day of Silence at CPM

By: Alex White 5/26/22

The Day of Silence is a celebration of LGBTQ+ students in schools and classrooms. The Day of Silence takes place on the second Friday of April. Many students go through a day of school without talking. They end the school day by breaking the silence with events and rallies to share their experiences during the protest and to give more attention to the ways their school might be able to become more inclusive to everyone. 

According to Wikipedia, the Day of Silence, “Started in the mid 90’s by two college students, the Day of Silence has expanded to reach hundreds of thousands of students each year.” 

“The GLSEN Day of Silence is a national student-led demonstration where LGBTQ students and allies  all around the country—and the world—take a vow of silence to protest the harmful effects of harassment and discrimination of LGBTQ people in schools.”

Essentially what this means is the students vow their silence to honor past students who felt like they would have been bullied if they had come out.

On April 22, 2022, CPM had a day of silence for all LGBTQ+ students and allies to take a vow of silence to honor the community. At 2:20 Cpm students with heart, stickers were able to join in a rally for the LGBTQ+ students. Both Ms. Smithgal and Ms. Nanez gave some words in a quick speech. 

A student, Jax Shields, also read something that they had prepared for the occasion. Jax said, “Today is the Day of Silence. The Day of Silence is a student-led demonstration where LGBTQ students and allies all around the country and the world take a vow of silence to protest the harmful effects of harassment and discrimination against LGBTQ people in schools… Together we can Break the Silence, making our school more inclusive for all.”

After the speeches were done, the students shared their pride and happiness with each other and themselves. “It was a great way to show that the students and school were protesting against the disrespect and hatred of the LGBTQ+ community,” said CPM student, Kade Van Ausdal. 

However, not everyone views the Day of Silence as a complete success. Many people saw other students who don’t care about the LGBTQ+ community at the rally. 

“Of course, I knew you could tell who cared and who didn’t but it wasn’t like it would be anything new. My opinion on the people who just wanted out of class is just disappointment. Honestly, I don’t really care who they are or what they do for the most part but they messed with a cause that people believe in and that isn’t ok,” said Jax.

But even though there were students at the rally who had no interest in it, there were still many positives. Jax explained, “I think that it showed that there are more LGBTQ+ people at this school than we realize and I’m not sure if it helped, but I think some of us learned how to find our voice.”

In the end, Jax said, “I think that there is more that we could do as a community for LGBTQ+ students, but we also just as a community needs to respect and care for everyone even if they don’t believe the same things as you. I think that we all just need to be kind to others, especially those who feel as if they don’t belong.”