Published: May 29, 2007 11:09 am    PrintThis  

Teens spend day of silence with Masco's Gay-Straight Alliance

TOPSFIELD | The halls of Masconomet Regional High School are usually bustling between classes with the chatter of students.

But on a recent Wednesday, many of those voices fell silent.

An estimated 200 students decided to make a statement, not with their words, but with a lack of them, as part of the Day of Silence.

The hush was organized by the school's Gay-Straight Alliance as a way to represent and draw attention to the quieted voices of a gay community.

"The goal of the Day of Silence was to make an impact with the lack of our voices," explained junior Steph Krim of Middleton, president of the GSA, "to represent the silence that gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered people and their allies have to go through on a daily basis. We wanted to challenge ourselves, and to see what it feels like when our voices are missing."

Though they admit that a few students may have used the Day of Silence to get out of classwork, the GSA was thrilled that many students got the word out by staying silent.

"There was an overwhelming amount of people that were legitimately trying to (remain silent)," Krim said. "I feel like it was noticed."

"This year, every class I was in, there was someone being silent," said Abby Bowling, a junior from Topsfield. "The teachers were great. There was really no conflict about it."

The Day of Silence has been held since 2000 at Masco, according to the group's adviser, Shannon Murphy, an English teacher at the school. The school has had the Gay-Straight Alliance for about 10 years. The group of about a dozen students is an advocacy group for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered community.

In many of the classes, some of the most talkative students had taken a vow of silence, leaving the teachers to press for other voices to speak up.

Krim said one of the most noticeable differences came at lunch time. She only had one friend who abstained from the Day of Silence, and as her group of friends silently ate their lunches, her friend desperately tried to make conversation.

"He was kind of cornered into it," Krim joked.

"You realize how hard it is to be silent when everyone isn't," Murphy added. "You have an inability to react to behaviors when your greatest weapon is denied you."

And staying quiet all day | aside from the occasional "excuse me" or "thank-you" | was no easy task for the usually gregarious teens.

"I like to speak, and I speak a lot, so it was really hard," said GSA Secretary Rebecca Harding, a sophomore from Topsfield, who got stuck in a group doing an English presentation where only one student was not participating in the Day of Silence.

Rebecca laughed as she remembered trying to act out what they wanted to say in front of the class.

"It is really difficult to stay silent," said junior Tim Forbes of Boxford. During last year's Day of Silence, he said, "I was in gym class and someone swung a rope and hit me in the head. I had to say 'ow.'"

After an entire school day of zipped lips, everyone participating was invited to meet in front of the school. When the last bell rang, everyone let out a therapeutic yell to signify the end of the exercise.

The group's goals

Although there are only 12 activity-fee paying members, the GSA is happy with their size because every student involved is dedicated to group, attending weekly meetings whenever possible.

"We don't want the GSA to have more members just to have more members," Rebecca said, adding that their goal was to figure out how to get those who are truly interested in the causes affecting the GLBT community more involved.

One of the most exciting and inspiring moments for the GSA each year is attending the Boston Youth Pride festival, which took place Saturday, May 12. The annual event features a rally, an open mike, musical entertainment, a march, an awards ceremony and a prom.

Lang Haynes, GSA vice president, attended the festival.

"It was really awesome. I went down with five members of the group, and it was just an amazing experience," said the high school junior from Topsfield. "It's a love fest, basically. You are surrounded by people who are so pleasant and so happy to be there."

He said it's a chance for everyone to truly be themselves.

"When you're there, everyone is exploding with their personalities. It's wonderful."



Staff writer Cara Spilsbury can be reached at 978-946-2230 or via e-mail at cspilsbury@towncrossings.com.