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Misinformation shrouds EHS 'Day of Silence'
By GARY P. KLINGER
Ephrata Review
Published: May 15, 2008 10:38 AM EST
EPHRATA - While some students recently observed a Day of Silent Respect at Ephrata
High School, it appears several parents are doing quite the
opposite.
Contrary to rumors around town the day was not deemed "gay
day" or "diversity day" by the school. While the event did not bear any
official name or meaning– nor was it in any way affiliated with a
national movement– a Day of Silent Respect was observed at the school
on April 25. Some parents, however, remain upset that the day was held at
all.
"This day was an opportunity for students to step into - in a
positive way - our American right to take a stand on issues important to
them. As you can see from the statement (read over the morning
announcements) it was far more than a concern over the put-downs gays
receive and it was not called 'gay day,'" said high school principal Joane
Eby, adding the day had no official title, but was referred to more as a
day of silent respect.
What perhaps upset parents were the origins
of the day. A Web site promoting A Day of Silence noted that "The Day of
Silence (www.dayofsilence.org),
a project of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), is a
student-led day of action when concerned students from middle school to
college take some form of a vow of silence to bring attention to the
name-calling, bullying and harassment – in effect, the silencing
–experienced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students and
their allies."
But unlike the day promoted by GLSEN, the observation
at EHS was a day to simply raise awareness of all those who suffer in
silence. A transcript of Eby's address to the student body on the morning
announcements was provided for this story. Excerpts of that address
are:
"Our country provides us with gifts that we frequently take for
granted. The ability to choose who we become and what we will do in areas
such as careers, religion, and politics; we are able to disagree with our
neighbor yet continue to live in safety without threat of retribution ...
the full list of these freedoms would be long.
In our public schools
we also mirror many of these gifts of freedom. Yes, there are tighter
parameters; we are not a total democracy, yet we do exercise most of these
freedoms as long as our voices and actions within this building do not put
down, demean or threaten others. Because of these freedoms, students are
able to express their concerns for issues in respectful and peaceful ways.
April 25, Friday, is a day many across our nation pause to acknowledge the
difficulty and suffering that certain groups have endured. As I spoke with
students interested in observing this day, the discussion moved to the
realization that many thousands across the country and the world suffer in
silence for many reasons. We agreed that the silent sufferers of our world
are due a day of respectful contemplation. We list only a small handful of
such suffering; sadly the complete list would take many, many
pages:
For the following, and for the hundreds we do not mention, we
acknowledge the pain in their silence; for the refugees of our world's wars
who wait endlessly in camps, unknown and unknowing of their future; for the
young girls of Nepal who in 2008 are still silently sold into slavery so
that their families might have money for food; for the many American
soldiers returning from Iraq who struggle with mental and emotional stress
and find little relief; for the homeless of the world, the homeless of our
country, our state and our community; for those who suffer with AIDS and
continue to find rejection and fear from others; for those among us who
suffer in silence and embarrassment from mental illnesses that torment in
terrifying ways; for the physically and emotionally abused among us who
struggle silently to make meaning of their lives; for those of differing
life styles, gays, lesbians and transgender, who hear the taunts and the
rejection of those around them; for those who hide or deny their ethnic
backgrounds to avoid sarcasm or racial slurs; for the timid and the shy who
struggle daily to find their voice among the tumult of daily life; for
those who suffer in silence from physical and mental handicaps and who fear
each day that careless words will be slung at them in the hallways of our
schools across the land; for those who find reading, writing, or
mathematics an intense hardship and struggle with feelings of
failure.
These, and hundred of others, are silent sufferers. Your
name may be among them; your friends' names may be among them. Today and
tomorrow morning ribbons will be available to pin on in respect of the
recognition of this silence. Tomorrow students who wear these may choose to
be silent or not, I expect their wishes to be respected either way. The
existence of a safe and supportive environment that provides respect for
each other, even in our areas of disagreement, is a central mission of our
school, Ephrata High School.
As explained by Eby, "Over 40 students
had asked that we do something on this day. Thus the conversation moved to
wider topics. While the students first wanted to acknowledge it only as
such, after discussion they felt it needed to be expanded beyond that
particular concern as so many suffer in silence across our land and globe.
The students were quite aware of the full meaning and their concern for
those suffering in general drove the final design of the day. Students and
staff who wanted to participate in the day could pick up ribbons to pin on
their shirts - there were a variety of colors to choose from: purple, gold,
black, yellows and oranges, green and red combinations and a rainbow color.
Students could select any color or combination of colors of their choice
... personally, I wore purple and gold."
The event was completely
voluntary. Nonetheless, Eby said that there were parents who chose to keep
their students home from school on that day.
"The day went extremely
smoothly. Other than disciplining one student for trash-talking a gay
student (which we would have done on any day) we had no incidents. Our kids
are wonderfully concerned about each other and some students did select to
spend the day in full silence," she said.
One concerned citizen, who
remains anonymous, understood the day had other meanings, but was unmoved
from a position that this in some way promoted and condoned the gay
lifestyle. When asked about the fact that the day was clearly not
supporting any one viewpoint, but rather promoting a means of express their
concerns for issues in respectful and peaceful ways, this parent remained
unmoved.
"I just don't think is has any place in our schools. And by
the school participating in this it is really saying it's OK to be gay. I
don't agree with that. And if we don't do something this will just continue
to get more and more out of hand."
Two of Jay Young's children
attend Ephrata High School but neither was in attendance on April 25. While
he did not directly contact the school for clarification on the issue, he
did make his concerns known through a call to the school. With him keeping
his kids home from school that day, Young was adamant that the day not be
counted as an unexcused absence.
"I don't care how they package this
event; it is still just a cover for the gay agenda. It's all just in the
way things are worded and presented to the public. This is just another
step in that direction, and I oppose that."
Asked if he had
attempted to discuss his concerns with the school principal, with the
district or with anyone from the school board, he said that he had not but
that he would be writing a letter expressing his concerns to all
three.
Ted Andrew grew up in the school district. The youngest of
his three children is now a sophomore. Andrew was in direct contact with
Eby and had as such received the same transcript noted above. Through
several communications back and forth with Eby, he did say that while he
has some serious concerns about the event initially, that in the end he was
satisfied that Eby was being truthful in not presenting this as an event
promoting or condoning homosexual behavior or lifestyle. He pointed out
that as a Christian, he was having a hard time distinguishing how the
school could offer an event such as the Day of Silent Respect on one hand,
yet now allow distribution of Christian camp materials aimed at the student
body. He also questioned Eby on the annual Gather at the Flag Pole event
held around the same time. The flagpole event is an annual event sponsored
and supported by various evangelical Christian organizations in which
Christians of all ages gather for prayer at a prescribed date and time,
praying for the nation, its leaders among other things.
"I guess I
just don't understand how we can promote on thing but not the other in our
schools. First it was removing prayer from the schools. Now even
baccalaureate has been removed from the school building. What's
next?"
According to Andrew, like Young, he too was very concerned
about the pervasive nature of the homosexual agenda. "Often those of that
persuasion are very good at trying to gradually move in and slowly sell
their lifestyle as acceptable. It is not acceptable. It is wrong and I
don't feel the schools should in any way be promoting their agenda. This
whole Day of Silence has been going on since 1996 and was solely intended
to promote tolerance and acceptance of a gay agenda. Instead we should be
teaching our kids the truth about the gay lifestyle, that it is just plain
wrong."
In contacting Mrs. Eby, Andrew said that he agree the list
of issues presented were valid concerns but he felt that the gay community
was perhaps doing a good job of sugar coating the issue to get it across.
He expressed his concern that they might be supplying other reasons so as
to camouflage the real issue behind the event. He noted that he had agreed
to accept the explanation of the event at face value, trusting that Eby was
being honest with him.
During the May 5 meeting of the Ephrata Area
School Board, none of those with reservations about the event were present
nor were any comments on the event forwarded for presentation at that time.
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