“We know that students learn best when they can be who they are,” Brian Agustin, co-sponsor of Gay-Straight Alliance, said. “[Even though] they might not identify as LGBTQ, we know that students sometimes mistreat each other. [Day of Silence] is to say that everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect, and is pretty much an event to promote that, and to make aware that we want to be a safe school.”

Day of Silence is a student-led event organized across the nation in hopes to silence the voices that cause harassment and bullying, in addition to raising awareness.

“Starting next week, members of the GSA will have a table during all lunch periods, and they will be asking for students to take the pledge,” Agustin said. “On the pledge sheet, it has information regarding the actual day of silence and students can provide the pledge to their teachers because they are not saying anything.”

The GSA is organizing the event which will be held on April 21. All students are encouraged to take the pledge and participate in the Day of Silence. Although the event is led by students nationwide, the event was started by a small organization with a mission.

“The Day of Silence was first created by a group in Massachusetts called GLSEN. The intent of the group was to improve the educational system,” Agustin said. “What they identified was that the number of students that were bullied or discriminated against.”

Although GLSEN started the mission, students across the nation have continued to participate in Day of Silence in hopes of raising awareness.

“I think it’s important [to take the pledge] because we want to have a safe school,” Agustin said. “We know that students are getting bullied, and we need to be aware that this is taking place. We want to involve as many students as possible, to not only take the pledge, but to celebrate who we are as a school community.”

The Day of Silence is followed by a night celebrate called Night of Noise. According to Agustin, this celebration commemorates individuality and gives individuals the opportunity to be proud.
“Every student deserves to be treated with respect and dignity, no matter what the orientation or gender expression is,” Agustin said. “Everyone deserves to be a part of a safe school.”