Don't Silence Students Over Day of Silence

Carroll County Public School Board: Allow students to make announcements about the Day of Silence

My daughter requested that I post this petition on my blog(s) to support these students. They wish to make announcements at their school in Carroll County, MD about the Day of Silence on April 20. The Day of Silence is a student-led national event that brings attention to anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying and harassment in schools. Students from middle school to college take a vow of silence in an effort to encourage schools and classmates to address the problem of anti-LGBT behavior by illustrating the silencing effect of bullying and harassment on LGBT students and those perceived to be LGBT.  The problem is that the Carroll County Public School Board has instituted a new rule that says schools within the school district cannot use words such as "gay", "lesbian", or "bisexual" (or anything pertaining to the LGBTQA community) on their announcements, which could prevent students from making their announcements. 

One of these students started an online petition to allow Day of Silence announcements. If you support these students' rights to free expression, please click on the link to sign the petition. And a big "Thank You" to my daughter, Baby Mouse, for bringing this to my attention. You go girl!

http://www.change.org/petitions/carroll-county-public-school-board-allow-students-to-make-announcements-about-the-day-of-silence

                             

Pink Bunnies

Was shopping in Walmart the other morning (don't judge-I live in ruburbia and there are NOT many choices for picture frames, birthday decorations, and Easter candy). Anyway, as I was wandering the half dozen aisles of football sized chocolate eggs, bags the size of pillow cases filled with pastel colored cotton candy, and 5 pound sacks of jelly beans (Passover supplies--aisle WTF is that???), I saw a mom with her young son (I'm assuming it was her son) in the cart. He was obviously excited about all of the candy, especially the Peeps, or "marshmallow bunnies." 

Mom told him they could buy a pack and started naming all of the colors for him as she pointed them out. I thought to myself that it was so nice to see a young mother teaching her child colors in a fun way. She was actually interacting positively with her kid in Walmart instead of yelling at him or smacking him to be quiet, which is pretty typical behavior around here.

So, Mom points out, "There are yellow bunnies, and purple bunnies, and blue bunnies, and pink bunnies, and..." At this point, the kid announces, "I want the pink ones!" Apparently this doesn't sit well with Mom because she repeats, "There are blue bunnies. Do you like the blue ones?" The little boy again says, "I want the pink bunnies." Mom, however, isn't having it. "Oh! Look at the blue ones! Do you want the blue bunnies?" Finally, the kid gives in and says, "I want the blue bunnies," which Mom gives to him.

Funny, but I thought I heard the kid ask for pink bunnies pretty clearly. What kind of message does this give to a young child about his preferences?  We're not talking about clothing or hairstyle or lifestyle here but Easter candy. We as parents, family, teachers, and society as a whole can start giving kids messages that their preferences are somehow wrong beginning when they are very young, oftentimes without even realizing we're doing it. Instead of valuing individuals, we chip away at their self-esteem by trying to change them to fit our own expectations. I really do hope that some day that little boy gets exactly what he wants, even if it's pink bunnies.

I Am The Lorax. I Speak for Mazda and IHop

It all started way back...

such a long, long time back...

Way back in the days when the grass was still green

and the pond was still wet

and the clouds were still clean,

and the song of the
Swomee-Swans rang out in space...

Then Hollywood said, 

"Let's make 'Lorax,' the movie

with lots of "green" tie-ins

it sure will be groovy."

But they lost the moral

Seuss wrote in the tale

that greed and consumption

may lead things to fail.

Most of the products

stamped "Lorax approved"

are all about profit

and should be removed.

Pancakes with sprinkles?

disposable diapers?

hotel chains and printers?

What's wrong with these vipers?!!

And then there is Mazda
 going into the schools

offering money

with very few rules.

 "Just get your folks

to test drive our car

then we'll give you cash

that's how great we are!"

"The Lorax, he loves our

 brand new SUVs;

they're cool and they're friendly

to Truffula Trees!"

A lone voice of reason

was heard from afar

a child said, "The Lorax 

doesn't drive a car."