PA Breaking the Silence – Night of Noise 2012

On Friday, April 20th – the National Day of Silence will be observed by thousands of schools across the nation. Since 1996, GLSEN has sponsored this daylong, in-school action to promote support and compassion for all those silenced in their schools due to bullying and anti-LGBTQ bias. The Pennsylvania Student Equality Coalition (PSEC) is sponsoring a statewide event to connect our schools in solidarity for the second year. Our organizations have many individualized ways of rallying around the Day of Silence – so we are planning to unite through the breaking of the silence at the end of the day: with a balloon release.

Please click here for a detailed flyer with photos on PSEC’s
“Pennsylvania: Breaking the Silence – Night of Noise”

Each registered school will be sent for free: three balloons in the mail printed with “Pennsylvania Breaking the Silence: Night of Noise. Silent no more.” As students gather at a central landmark at your school toward the end of the day, we ask everyone to write words or messages about how it feels to be silent with permanent marker on the balloon. After everyone in the group has had the chance to contribute, we will all take a community photo.

After any final community remarks, the biodegradable balloons will be released signifying the departure of silence from oppression.

Immediately following, organizations are planning a variety of events of noise including concerts and community forums to continue the dialogue. We will assemble all the photos in a collage and post it online. Please let us know what you are planning to do so we can communicate what is going on statewide!

Please register your event here NOW
In order to guarantee your balloons arriving by Friday, this form must be filled out by 4:00pm on Monday, April 15th!

Questions: Contact PSEC Deputy Director Joy Horner at jhorner@payouthcongress.org.

Click here for the Facebook Event