Students in nearly 20 schools around the country have so far pledged to take part in next week’s Day of Silence. On Friday 12 June they will remain silent to raise awareness of homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying, name-calling and harassment in schools. It’s about bringing attention to the problem, letting students who experience such bullying know that they are not alone and to ask schools to take action to address it. The Youth 07 report conducted by the University of Auckland shows that same or both-sex attracted youth in New Zealand are three times more likely to be bullied, weekly, than their straight peers. The follow-up Youth 12 study looked at transgender students for the first time, and found they had compromised health and wellbeing. Nearly 20 per cent had attempted suicide in the previous 12 months and nearly half of the transgender students had been hit or physically harmed by another person on purpose. The first New Zealand Day of Silence was held in 2007 at Nayland College in Nelson. Queer straight alliance network InsideOUT, with the support of numerous other groups, has since created a national campaign. Students all over New Zealand are encouraged to get involved in whatever way suits their school – you can register to take part here
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Tuesday, 2nd June 2015 - 10:21am