Day of Silence

[bigirl_inwv]

I don't know how many of you have heard about this. I just now found out about it. Thought I'd post it here for all to see!! What do you guys think about this?


http://www.dayofsilence.org

[12voltman59]

Sounds like a great idea---I hope that it helps---

I know that when I was a kid--it was like the worst thing to be called "queer bait" --whatever the hell that phrase meant---it seemed that different people always got selected for that--I got it a few times myself----I really did not know how to fight it--other than to say "I am not" and of course the kids who said it just replied "are too!!!" and when you are alone and don't have anyone standing with or behind you--it is pretty scary and lonely.
I guess that since it was kid stuff--it didn't have to make any sense--just like with "cooties!!"

I would not even know what it was that brought such an attack on---other than I didn't have any brothers or sisters to stand with me and that alone made me one of the "weird kids."

This was elementary school of course---but I held that with me and when I moved from that school district in my sophomore year in high school and went to Georgia--I felt I had died and gone to heaven.

I was immediately a popular person and had a whole group of friends--something I never had at my Ohio high school.

I hope this campaign helps the kids who suffer from being called such names---thanks for posting.

[DiamondDog]

People did this when I was in highschool and in various universities and it was a big waste of time.

As someone who went or who was supposed to go silent (not by my own will or voluntarily, in highschool when they were doing education about drunk driving and how many people die in a day from it and they picked random people), it was pointless, it didn't prove anything or help anyone who is opressed or who had been killed, and people did not learn from it.

[GreenEyedLady(GEL)]

People did this when I was in highschool and in various universities and it was a big waste of time.

As someone who went or who was supposed to go silent (not by my own will or voluntarily, in highschool when they were doing education about drunk driving and how many people die in a day from it and they picked random people), it was pointless, it didn't prove anything or help anyone who is opressed or who had been killed, and people did not learn from it.

See ? Here again , you have nothing good to say. Your negitive !

[DiamondDog]

See ? Here again , you have nothing good to say. Your negitive !


What do you guys think about this?

Ummm, hello?

Laken/BiGirl just asked people their opinion.

I figured I'd write about my experiences with silent shock/attention tactics and my own personal experience participating in them.

I'm not doing anything wrong, and I'd be lying if I said how these acts of silence actually acomplish anything other than less people talking, and that they're actually even a lot of fun to participate in!

Don't get all bent out of shape because I wrote something that you personally think is "negative" or something that's an alternative viewpoint or contrary to how you personally think that people should have to have about something. :2cents:

[TaylorMade]

Ummm, hello?

Laken/BiGirl just asked people their opinion.

I figured I'd write about my experiences with silent shock/attention tactics and my own personal experience participating in them.

I'm not doing anything wrong, and I'd be lying if I said how these acts of silence actually acomplish anything other than less people talking, and that they're actually even a lot of fun to participate in!

Don't get all bent out of shape because I wrote something that you personally think is "negative" or something that's an alternative viewpoint or contrary to how you personally think that people should have to have about something. :2cents:

This post is probably going closer to the uncomfortable state going around on the site. People are going to have contrary views about...EVERYTHING.

It's all in how we express them. I have a lot of views that if they were fully disclosed, you'd wonder how I could be a part of this place; but because I try my best to be as respectful as possible, I make it work.

DD wasn't being disrespectful; like it or not, he's saying that in his experience, it just was not something that he saw as effective. He wasn't being nasty about it, just calling it as he saw it.

*Taylor*

[Long Duck Dong]

while I understand the day of silence...... what are we trying to prove or accomplish ???

we are trying to draw attention to the bullying and the effects of bullying ....

something that 10,000's of school kids know about......

so lets all get together for a day of silence...... and than what ??????

when I was going to school, we had bullies.... and the cane
so they removed the cane

when I was at school, we had games like tag.....and so they removed the games.....

when I was at school.... we listened to the teachers cos they could discipline us..... so they remove the teachers ablility to discipline us

they taught us that we have rights as children, and we need to stand up for ourselves.......

now kids take guns to school.... and some kids don't come home


over the last 30 odd years, bit by bit, teachers control in the classroom and playground have been removed.....and children have been taught that they are victims of others abuse and attitudes.....

currently in nz.....
a parent DOESN'T have the right to read their childs school right.... but the parent is responsible for paying for the schooling and ensuring the child goes to school

a parent is NOT allowed to discipline their children unless its by actions such as time out and the naughty stool, but a parent is responsible for their childrens actions and a move is under way to make parents responsible for illegal actions... including jail time

a school is NOT allowed to expell a child IF another school will not accept the child.... in simple terms.... a child can hit a teacher in the face, and the school MUST continue to teach the child, if no other school will accept the child...... in nz, there were 7 such cases in 4 months.....


so lets all sit down and go silent for a day..... and then what ??????

seriously...... there is no cure for bullying, no * just add water and stir *

but until we wake up and smell the coffee, and realise that not only is bullying getting worse...... but also that we are making it worse

I can go to school and shoot my class mates, and my envoriment will be blamed......the music, the computer games, the bullying, people not respecting my needs, wants and desires.....
yeah thats right...... I am not responsible for my actions.... it was my enivorment and the influences in society and other people not considering me...... but they are not allowed to either..... cos I am protected by law under the privacy law and the anti discrimination act and a few others...
BY LAW... they have to wait until your own child comes home in a body bag before they can start pointing the finger at everybody and everything

so the goverment will throw more money at it....and hold more seminars, and lectures and studies etc etc etc

and tomorrow or the next day..... another child will be bullied, another child will be abused.... another child will go to school with a gun........

and next year, we will have another day of silence..............

[folk2punk]

hmm..... let's see, I can hop on the bandwagon of rudeness, or I can make an intelligent comment.... so hard to decide.

I participated in one of these in college. Granted, most colleges are choked with the air of liberalism, so you dont get that much of a hard-hitting response. But like high school, its also a time and place where we mold our social identity. So when you go silent (with the appropriate activist/pamphlet/literature available) you really do get people thinking.

Alternately, you can get a groups of people to agree to go silent (a practical and peaceful time-honored protest) and assign one person per group to be allowed to speak for them. That way you get the best of both worlds. This really does work if you go the route of tabling, as opposed to just random peeps runnin' around silent. All depends on your dedication to planning the details.

The idea could profit from adding a more theatrical notion, such as the current youtube mania over the crowds of people stopping, frozen in place, at Grand Central Station. You want to get people thinking about the loss to society when hate takes over and silences us with death, aparthied, or bullying.

If the event is properly planned and supported, you can have great impact. After all, how many of us and others go silent every day for fear of ridicule? Even if you only get thru to them in solidarity, you have done something productive.

The Dogs of the world who are apparantly forced into it will have no effect b/c they dont really want to go silent and that shows and destroys the whole idea. And you'll always have slackers touting, "whats the point, the world is a horrible place, lets just give into anarchy now." But they are the ones who are happy being mind-fucked into submission by the shiny box with the moving pictures.

Changing one mind at a time is still change. If you have the chance and support to take this on, then go for it! I'll be in the crossdressing section of the cheerleading sqaud. *snap* "You go girl!"

[Bopit4Ever]

I find these "moments of silence" to be meaningless imo. But I aint knocking anyone who does it.

[bigirl_inwv]

DD, while your reply was negative, it was only so in that you have a negative opinion on the Day of Silence. For once, Gel and I disagree. I did ask for opinions and I appreciate your perspective.

Do you think that your opinion is negative because you were forced into it when you really didn't want to do it? Or do you really think that it wouldn't have an effect on anyone?



Folk2, I think that on a large enough scale, and with a grandiose enough "performance" people would definitely stop and take notice. I think with something like this it really all comes down to the other person. The people who participate in these kinds of things are simply the outlet used to get the information out there. What other people choose to do with that information is another thing entirely.

So I'm kind of torn. I don't know whether I really think it's a solid, effective idea....or if I think it's just some liberal students who want to make a scene. I can pretty much see both things happening.

[GreenEyedLady(GEL)]

This post is probably going closer to the uncomfortable state going around on the site. People are going to have contrary views about...EVERYTHING.

It's all in how we express them. I have a lot of views that if they were fully disclosed, you'd wonder how I could be a part of this place; but because I try my best to be as respectful as possible, I make it work.

DD wasn't being disrespectful; like it or not, he's saying that in his experience, it just was not something that he saw as effective. He wasn't being nasty about it, just calling it as he saw it.

*Taylor*

I did not say DD was being disrespectful Taylor , I said he is negitive. Big difference. I enjoy contrary views, its what makes me more openminded. I learn from contrary views. On the other hand, when you come across some one as cynical as DD can be through his writing, not to mention the fact he has no tact I felt obligagted to say something. And I did, and even though he has EVERY right to his own opinion, especially when someone was requesting others views, I still stand firm by my statements as well. Like it or not.

[DiamondDog]

I did not say DD was being disrespectful Taylor , I said he is negitive. Big difference. I enjoy contrary views, its what makes me more openminded. I learn from contrary views. On the other hand, when you come across some one as cynical as DD can be through his writing, not to mention the fact he has no tact I felt obligagted to say something. And I did, and even though he has EVERY right to his own opinion, especially when someone was requesting others views, I still stand firm by my statements as well. Like it or not.

Nobody is forcing you to read my posts, or to take personally everything that I write in them.

If you don't like my opinions about things, you can't keep up with the subjects that I write about, and you constantly think I'm being "tactless", "cynical", and "negative" in every single thing that I write on this forum the answer is simple: Don't read my posts and don't reply to them.

I don't read or reply to the FMP and their posts that I've seen here.

[DiamondDog]

DD, while your reply was negative, it was only so in that you have a negative opinion on the Day of Silence. For once, Gel and I disagree. I did ask for opinions and I appreciate your perspective.

Do you think that your opinion is negative because you were forced into it when you really didn't want to do it? Or do you really think that it wouldn't have an effect on anyone?



Folk2, I think that on a large enough scale, and with a grandiose enough "performance" people would definitely stop and take notice. I think with something like this it really all comes down to the other person. The people who participate in these kinds of things are simply the outlet used to get the information out there. What other people choose to do with that information is another thing entirely.

So I'm kind of torn. I don't know whether I really think it's a solid, effective idea....or if I think it's just some liberal students who want to make a scene. I can pretty much see both things happening.

Laken/Bigirl-I didn't like it because I was forced into it and nobody learned anything from it and there are better ways to educate people.

Despite what folk2punk thinks I really did go silent and I enjoyed communicating non verbally and not being called on in classes.

[GreenEyedLady(GEL)]

[QUOTE=DiamondDog;99427]Nobody is forcing you to read my posts, or to take personally everything that I write in them.

If you don't like my opinions about things, you can't keep up with the subjects that I write about, and you constantly think I'm being "tactless", "cynical", and "negative" in every single thing that I write on this forum the answer is simple: Don't read my posts and don't reply to them.

I don't read or reply to the FMP and their posts that I've seen here.[/QUOTE

It's certainly not that I cannot keep up with you DD, but your right I don't care for the majority of your opinions, and your even more right about my taking them personally. Some of the things you say are so far left field to me. However, I shouldn't have been so nasty about it, and for that I do apologize.

[wutheringheights]

People did this when I was in highschool and in various universities and it was a big waste of time.

As someone who went or who was supposed to go silent (not by my own will or voluntarily, in highschool when they were doing education about drunk driving and how many people die in a day from it and they picked random people), it was pointless, it didn't prove anything or help anyone who is opressed or who had been killed, and people did not learn from it.

I agree. My experience has been that in PC environments (for instance, the university I went to) where nobody would dream of openly calling anyone racist/sexist/heterosexist names, that phobic resentment merely surfaces in the form of graffiti and book vandalism. People aren't more 'tolerant' simply because they're modifying their language. In fact, it's not necessarily a bad thing to at least know who your 'enemies' are... know what I mean?
Rac/sex/heterosexism(s) are complicated little animals and they can be expressed in various ways. Obviously, directly threatening or violent behaviour is amongst the most immediately harmful... but it's an expression of a broader cultural crisis. My impression of phenomena like the Day of Silence and similar 'days' held in different places is that, well-intentioned as many of the participants may well be, they circumscribe complex problems of racism, sexism and homophobia to specific incidents rather than addressing those problems to the furthest limits. This is an instance where I don't think the DD is being merely negative. If good intentions are sincere, they should welcome criticism for their insufficiency.

[the mage]

EXPOSURE.= AWARENESS=DISCUSSION=TOLERANCE=PEACE would be nice..

[purpleheaded]

Maybe its time to go to another site. Maybe the flamers could at least use the spell check. Maybe the flamers could better spend the time taking a grammer school English class. Maybe, just maybe act like adults.

Yes I think its a good idea to have the day of silence, that one out of a thousand could be listening.

[vittoria]

"If you dont have anything nice to say dont say anything at all"-- Bambi's mother.

Yes, in some circumstances, silence IS golden! :)

Unless its a golden shower...then theres this slight pissing noise...(noted the distinct trail of pee leading to this point, sorry)


Back on topic..

Havent gone to anything like it. Have heard about them, however. And like I said in a previous post, it may work for those who need it. But personally, it didnt work for me. NOT PUTTING IT DOWN FOR THOSE WHO NEED IT AND NEED SUCH AN ENVIRONMENT, however not all things are created for all people.

It all depends on who you are, your environment, and personal taste.