Students Clam Up to Make a Point (Supporting Their Gay Friends)

Madison.com ^ | April 26, 2006 | Susan Troller

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Middle and high school students across the Madison area, the state and the nation are silent today. But it's not a collective case of laryngitis or a sudden religious vow that's cut down on the conversation.

Instead, students are joining together to protest bullying and harassment of gay and lesbian classmates through the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network Day of Silence.

Brian Juchems, program director of GLSEN's south central Wisconsin chapter, said all Madison high schools, a number of area high schools and "a large chunk of Madison middle schools" have students who are participating in the event that includes many heterosexual as well as gay and lesbian students.

At Cherokee Middle School, for example, about 80 students signed up to participate, Principal Karen Seno said.

The Day of Silence, Juchems said, has been around for about 10 years with growing local interest. He said middle school involvement is relatively new, but that sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students are particularly aware of bullying and harassment, especially based on real or imagined sexual orientation.

The event coincides with today's release of the national GLSEN organization's 2005 climate in the schools study, which reports that a third of all students, gay and straight, have been physically harassed based on their perceived gender identification and that three quarters of all students have regularly heard students being called "fag" or verbally bullied.

Many of the students will break their vow of silence tonight with a rally at the Capitol at 5 p.m. which will draw attention to anti-gay bullying in schools and will protest the proposed ban on gay marriage that will go to referendum in Wisconsin this fall.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

And a little child shall lead them. *Rolleyes* Gay advocates are completely shameless in promoting their agenda.

Sixth graders are 11-12 years old.

[VRWCmember]

If they gays would all sit down and shut up, AIDS would not have become the problem it is today.

[manwiththehands]

Let's not be too harsh. Someone has figured out a way to get middle and high schoolers to be silent. :-)

[EagleUSA]

Isn't liberalism beautiful? Our government schools are cesspools of it.

[plain talk]

bullying and harassment of gay and lesbian classmates

... they left out transgendered. :-)

[Gordongekko909]

Hooray! Gay advocates stfu!

[Hi Heels]

This happened at my daughter's school here in Calif. yesterday. These stupid kids don't know enough about sex with anyone else in the room to make a stand on this subject, and that's what I told her. It's just tragically hep to pull this crap right now. The instructors are actually PARTICIPATING and ENCOURAGING it.

[toddlintown]

They said "clams," heh, heh!

[phil1750]

At Cherokee Middle School, for example, about 80 students signed up to participate, Principal Karen Seno said.

SIGNED UP !!!So this was a sponsored event. Public Schools=Public orientation.

[telebob]

These guys have quite a little motivational website here:

http://www.dayofsilence.org/

You can register to get all sorts of fun stuff like hats, t-shirts, bumper stickers and pins. Also news updates and propaganda emails.

I registered as jkerry@ bj.com...

[Gorjus]

...a sudden religious vow...

This is a 'faith-based' initiative - the faith that a homosexual lifestyle is just as good as any other lifestyle. That's provably false, at least in terms of illness, caring for children, and a host of other social costs and values. But facts don't sway faith.

If we just recognised that socialist humanism is a faith - a religion in which the deity is mankind and for which the greatest value is whatever gratifies mankinds urges be they base or noble - then we'd see this for what it is: A conflict of religious doctrines.

It's no wonder they're worst boogyman is the 'religious right.' Traditional faiths are their direct competitor.

[steveo]

Here is the Sacramento area IN CALIFORNIA, several students from various high schools were suspended because the refused to remove their black t-shirts that read "Homosexuality is a sin".

At my elder daughters former high school, Mira Loma, dozens of Ukraine students protested the 'rainbow crowd' after school.

In Roseville just east of us, thirteen were suspended. At my younger daughters high school she counted maybe five or six that were participating. One protester was in a class with her and the kid's friends were trying to get the silent one to talk. "Hey 'Jamie', knock knock?", "What would you do for a Klondike bar?" etc.

[Copernicus]

Adults have always known children should be seen and not heard, especially young liberals in training.

Now if they could only learn to think.

Best regards,

[isrul]

Maybe if the culattonis and dykes practiced discretionary silence about their sexual disfunctionality more often, they would be bullied and harassed less. People who mouth off about stuff of interest to only their blighted kind tend to irritate others. I'm not condoning violence but if you flit around flaunting your degeneracy of any kind in the face of others, sooner or later someone, somewhere will smack you down

[Rutles4Ever]

Hell in a handbasket. I'm starting to believe the opposition - this is no longer a Christian nation.

This is beyond obscene. Children are already being sexualized enough by the media in the single digit ages - is anywhere safe?

[Lekker 1]

LOL...maybe the kids will actually learn something in school that day. Of course, they will probably spend the day text-messaging.

[Billthedrill]

Not good enough. If they really cared about their gay/lesbian/transgendered friends they'd be having public sex during recess. Break the chains! Free the people!

It's the sort of suggestion you wouldn't want to make at a board meeting for fear somebody'd take you seriously...

[Diana in Wisconsin]

"Let's not be too harsh. Someone has figured out a way to get middle and high schoolers to be silent. :-)"

That was my first actual Belly Laugh today, LOL! My son is 18 now and in college. I never, EVER want to re-live those Junior/Middle School years again. He was one big raging, spastic hormone who ate like a moose and never shut up until he passed out from exhaustion at 11pm at night!

I was stupid enough to go on many a field trip with he and his classmates. A barrel of monkeys isn't fun...it's terrifying, LOL!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

LOL! You are wickedly evil...and my kind of person. ;)

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Middle and high school students across the Madison area, the state and the nation are silent today.

Can we get them to make this a year long event?