High School Students Lower Voices to Raise Awareness

The halls of high schools across the suburbs were quieter Friday.
So were the cafeterias and classrooms.

Students at many area schools observed April 15 as the “Day of Silence” to draw attention to the bullying and harassment of students who identify themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.

“This is not about do you approve or accept this,” said Mary Rapp, one of two teachers who moderate the Gay-Straight Alliance at Niles West High School in Skokie. “This is about creating safety for all. We want all of our kids to feel safe and welcomed in this school.”

To make the point, students who volunteer to participate do not speak in the halls or cafeteria, or in the classroom, unless there is a project or assignment that demands it.

“They kind of take on the persona of kids who are afraid to be who they are, who are afraid to be known,” Rapp said. “It’s an interesting experience, especially for kids who are very outgoing.”

Rapp did not know how many Niles West students would participate, but said it would be hundreds.

Students at the University of Virginia founded Day of Silence in 1996 and worked to make it a national project, according to Links-North Shore Youth Health Service, which offers the Pride Youth Program for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender teens.

The program was created because LGBT youth are at increased risk for depression, truancy, dropping out of school, substance abuse, and suicide, according to the heath service.

The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) became the official organizational sponsor of the Day of Silence in 2001. Day of Silence has become the largest student-led, in-school action toward creating safer schools for all, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.

Last year, almost half of the students at Niles North High School in Skokie participated, said Hannah Davis, a junior who has been president of the school’s Gay-Straight Alliance since midway through her freshman year.

Davis, who came out as a lesbian while in junior high, said she really hasn’t faced any harassment in high school, but was bullied when she was younger.

“No one really knows what it’s like unless they experience it,” said Davis.
Teacher Christine Lubarsky, one of two moderators of the Gay-Straight Alliance at Niles North, said the amount of support for the day has grown over the past several years.

“We don’t want a community that condones bullying,” said Lubarsky. “We hope the effect lasts beyond the day.”

At Niles West, students follow the Day of Silence with a “Night of Noise,” where they share their experiences from the day, said teacher Carol Goodfriend, who moderates the Gay-Straight Alliance there with Rapp.

At Maine East High School in Park Ridge, teacher John Schwan expected 180 to 200 students, or about 10 percent of the school’s population to participate. Those who will remain silent get a stick-on badge and a card that explains the day to teachers and other students.

“They are making their peers aware,” said Schwan, who moderates the school’s Gay-Straight Alliance.

Students and teachers at area schools say that diverse populations help limit the amount of bullying, but no environment is perfect.

The phrase, “That’s so gay,” said pejoratively, is common in many schools. Schwan said that students generally don’t intend the comment to be hurtful, “but I just talked with my class yesterday about how unintended consequences can be the most harmful.”

Other challenges are posed in ethnically, culturally and religiously diverse communities, where some students believe homosexuality is sinful.
“We respect that,” Rapp said. “But we make the point that we have to respect everyone.”

To underscore that this is a human rights issue, the Amnesty International Club at Niles West joined in sponsoring the day.

Schwan said the diversity can help.

“There are 80 languages spoken by students at Maine East,” he said. “We have such a diverse school, there is an embedded appreciation for differences. The gay students are more accepted because of that.”