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April 25, 2008 - 12:57AM
Playing hooky not a proper protest for Day of Silence
Tribune Editorial
Upset parents at Gilbert's Desert Ridge High School don't have to like today's Day of Silence, a type of protest organized by gay rights advocates. But any decision to withhold their own children from school is an overreaction that sends the wrong message about the value of education.
The Day of Silence was started 12 years ago by the Gay and Lesbian Student Education Network. Students choose not to speak during the school day, and when anyone asks why, they hand out printed cards explaining their support.
Organizers say the Day of Silence isn't just about gay rights but promotes tolerance for diversity and protests any kind of bullying. But the actual subject doesn't really matter.
As Tribune writer Hayley Ringle reported Thursday, Desert Ridge and other East Valley schools aren't sponsoring the Day of Silence. Instead, they are allowing individual students to exercise their First Amendment rights as long as they don't disrupt the classroom. And the Day of Silence official Web site says students should speak normally during class time if that is a school's expectation.
Students who disagree with the Day of Silence or the reasons behind it should have a reasonable opportunity to express their views as well. That should not include staying away from school altogether.
Certainly, some parents will find an appropriate alternative - perhaps a trip to a museum or time spent reading a new book. But at least one father told Ringle he plans to hold a pizza-and-swim party, essentially telling his children and their friends that learning and knowledge are less important than completely avoiding something they find distasteful.
Skipping class also has a direct impact on public schools. Absences on certain days mean those students aren't counted in the complex formulas that determine state funding for school districts. So take children out of class on the wrong day, and the school won't have enough money to properly teach them when they return.
Speech you don't like should be answered with more speech and education, not by running away.
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