Nearly 9 out of 10 LGBT students experience harassment at schools, but in 2013 in Pennsylvania, a majority of that harassment went unreported and few bullied students were able to find in-school support. In that same year and state, more than 9 in 10 regularly heard homophobic slurs.

The grim statistics about LGBT bullying in schools are too many to count. On Friday, April 17, Harriton’s GSA (Gay-Straight Alliance) led over 40 participating students in a day-long vow of silence to protest these numbers and bring attention to the daily oppression of thousands of LGBT students.

The Day of Silence is the club’s most public event, and it has been observed for 19 years nationwide.

The day’s purpose was to educate both participants and observers. Students who chose not to use their voices learned empathy for their peers who are stifled due to bullying and resulting suicides, and observers began to imagine a world without these voices.

Though some may have slipped up and said a few words here and there, “the point of it wasn’t necessarily staying silent,” said sophomore and participant Zach Alfred-Levow. “It was more about the activism [to me].”

This year, some students wore black to echo the day’s solemnity while others chose rainbow clothing, but all of them, somewhere on their bodies, wore a white handwritten sticker that read, “I am silent today because…” Each participant finished the explanation as they saw fit, and each remained silent for the entire school day.

When asked how she was affected by the Day of Silence, Salomé Prigent, junior and GSA member, said, “While we were filming the Day of Silence [promotional] video and looking at some of the statistics of LGBT bullying, I realized the extent of how oppressed they were, and that made my willing[ness] to do Day of Silence even stronger. It’s a cause that I support and it needs to be addressed.”

The Day of Silence is one powerful way to address the devastating effects of LGBT bullying. Look out for an accompanying article this week on broader ways that we can make Harriton safer for students of all sexualities and gender identities, and the GSA’s plans to assist this effort.