Some parents, school officials fret about protest of bullying over sex orientation
By SARAH VIREN
The prospect of silent teenagers has a handful of parents, and now a few school administrators, antsy.
In Clear Creek, staff members have been fielding calls and e-mails from parents concerned about students taking a silent vow in support of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth at some schools Friday. And this week, Alton Frailey, superintendent of Katy's school district, let all teachers know that — though no one asked his district to participate in the silent protest — if someone did, "my answer is no."
His districtwide e-mail on the subject, which confused and offended some teachers, came in response to form letters from parents complaining about Day of Silence, a national, and usually non-disruptive, silent student protest meant to draw attention to bullying based on sexual orientation.
"The degree of exposure and political posturing currently being generated is bringing more attention to this particular subject than is necessary," Frailey wrote Monday in an e-mail that also instructed teachers not to make exceptions for students taking vows of silence.
The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network has registered five participating schools in Katy, at least two in the Clear Creek school district and more than 20 in the Houston area. The organization estimates that more than 6,000 schools and several hundred thousand kids will keep silent Friday.
Usually these students try not to speak the entire day, although some break their vow if required to participate in class. Many also distribute pamphlets or wear T-shirts, letting peers and teachers know why they're keeping mum. This year, students are protesting in the name of Lawrence King, a California eighth-grader who in February was shot and killed by another student, allegedly because he was gay.
How districts handle issue
The event began in 1996, but only started getting negative attention recently. In 2005, the conservative legal group the Alliance Defense Fund staged a counterprotest, called Day of Truth, which supports the "free speech rights of Christian students to present an opposing viewpoint to those organizations that promote homosexual behavior in the schools," according to the group's Web site. Then this year, the American Family Association sent an alert encouraging parents to keep kids home Friday if other students at their schools are participating in the Day of Silence.
"There are a lot of misinformation campaigns originating with groups who recognize that the Day of Silence is a very powerful positive thing," said Daryl Presgraves, a GLSEN spokesman.
The AFA did not return a call seeking comment, but one form letter from its Web site notes "by allowing students to remain silent, administrations fail to protect the classroom from intrusive, political exploitation."
Frailey also declined to comment, saying his e-mail speaks for itself. But Steve Stanford, a district spokesman, said the superintendent is not discriminating.
"It has nothing to do with the issue," he said. "It could have been the day of yelling for some other issue. It doesn't matter."
In Houston ISD, the silent protest has been going on for years, district principals say. Neither that district, Alief, Cypress-Fairbanks nor Clear Creek sent teachers or principals a directive on how to handle the silent protesters.
All the districts agree that students have the constitutional right to keep quiet outside of the classroom.
"Anything students do along those lines is strictly voluntary, on their own, similar to the hands-around-the-flagpole kind of events," noted Terry Abbott, spokesman for HISD.
'Hello I am Silent'
Day of Silence protests are student-run, but schools have differing levels of participation, said Presgraves. Some allow kids to keep silent during class; others require participation.
At Emery/Weiner School, a Houston private school, freshman Mauria Atzil took her silence vow last week because her spring break falls this week. Atzil said she and about 30 other students wore stickers that said "Hello I am Silent" and gave a PowerPoint presentation on the issue during a designated public announcement period in school.
"To be able to participate in the Day of Silence without being shunned or people giving me dirty looks meant a lot to me," said the 15-year-old.
At HISD's Pershing Middle School, CeCe White, who is straight, said she is organizing Friday's silent protest in part because her best friend is gay. The 14-year-old doesn't expect any problems with teachers and has the support of her mom.

"She has an opinion, and I think that's a great thing," said White's mom, Gail Fox.


Parental protest
Other parents have been less enthusiastic. Lori Wilson was one of the Katy parents e-mailing school administrators. The mother of an elementary student said she started receiving forwarded e-mails about the silent protest back in March.
"It's sad because we can't have a day of silence for prayer, but we can have a day of silence for that," she said.
In Katy, students have zipped their lips in protest before — at least four schools registered last year. This just seems to be the first time the administration is getting involved. The move upset some teachers, even if it eased the minds of parents such as Wilson.
"I was greatly offended," said a gay teacher with the district, who asked not to be identified because he feared backlash. "What is the worst that can happen? Good Lord, how much instruction could you get done if kids were silent for a day?"
Original Source