Tomorrow is the 13th annual Day of Silence, a day when students remain silent to draw attention to anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying, and harassment in schools. There was a highly disturbing story in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette today in advance of the Day of Silence. The article, which is titled “Gay Students Don’t Feel Safe in Pa. Schools, Survey Says,” indicated that a survey of 242 Pennsylvania students showed that:
• Almost 9 of 10 have been harassed verbally in the past year.
• More than half said they had been harassed physically.
• More than a quarter said they had been physically assaulted.
• Ninety-eight percent sometimes, often or frequently hear the word “gay” used in a negative way.
• Most of those harassed or assaulted didn’t report it, but only about a third of those who did report it found school staff intervened effectively.
• Because they felt unsafe, 39 percent had skipped class at least once in the preceding month and 44 percent had missed at least one day of school.
-Tony Infanti
