SaveCalifornia’s response to today’s Day of Silence is another example of the twisted logic in which free speech rights (or in this case the right to say something by not speaking) belong to conservative Christians and no one else. But even more bizarre, in service of their obsessive anti-gay agenda, this example puts “pro-family” activists in the unenviable position of opposing opposition to school bullying.
The twelfth annual Day of Silence “is a student-led national event that brings attention to anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying and harassment in schools.” Students are instructed to meet with school officials well in advance and ask permission to take a day-long vow of silence. If that permission is denied, they’re told they “have a right to participate in Day of Silence and other expressions of opinion at a public school during non-instructional time: the breaks between classes, before and after the school day, lunchtime, and any other free times during your day.”
In a document [pdf], entitled “Tips for the Last Minute Organizer of Those Whose Administrators Said ‘No,'” students are explicitly told that if a teacher asks them to speak they “do NOT have a right to remain silent during class time.” In schools where permission is denied, students are encouraged to remain silent at lunch, wear a button or a ribbon, or write a letter to the editor. According to promotional materials, “there is no single way to participate, and students are encouraged to take part in the way that is the most positive and uplifting for their school.”
Seems pretty orderly—and not the least bit disruptive—to me; frankly I’m a bit surprised that students don’t have the right to remain silent even in the classroom. Really? We can force them to talk? Do we want to force them to talk to keep them from protesting bullying?
SaveCalifornia responded to today’s planned Day of Silence by advocating that “morally sensitive” Christian parents have their children participate in a walk-out to protect them from being “sexually indoctrinated” in schools where their classmates will remain silent. Moreover, SaveCalifornia’s response seems decidedly like bullying. Since the school funding is based on attendance, they advocated keeping students out of the classroom for the explicit purpose costing the school money to “prevent the Day of Silence” and/or “punish” school administrators that “allow” students to remain silent.
Calling the event an “immoral takeover” and “in-your-face sexual indoctrination,” SaveCalifornia claims that some students (being allowed to) keep silent for all or part of the day “make it difficult for other students to concentrate” and is tantamount to a general “take over of school campuses for the entire day.”
I have a hard time imagining a middle school teacher who thinks a quiet classroom is disruptive.
