GLSEN- Day of Silence

Day of Silence by: GLSEN

Talking Points #3

Reflection:

The article that I read was about The Day of Silence.  For those of you that don't know what the Day of Silence is, it is the largest single student-led action towards creating safer schools for all, no matter what your sexual orientation is. What happens during the Day of Silence is students across the country take a vow of silence to show the silencing effect of anti-LGBT bullying and harassment in schools.  The first ever Day of Silence occurred at the University of Virginia in 1996, and as of 2008, 8,000 other schools including middle schools, high schools, and universities have participated in the Day of Silence.  I think that is amazing how many schools now that show their support using the Day of Silence.  I bet even more schools do the Day of Silence since it is now 2012.  I think all schools should implement the Day of Silence it's a great way to stop the bullying against gays, bisexuals, lesbians, and transgendered. 

I remember when they were having the Day of Silence at my high school one year.  I didn't know what it was, but I participated anyways because a lot of my friends were doing it.  Once I found out why everyone was taking a vow of silence I continued to do my vow of silence because I wanted to show support to all of those who were bullied or harassed.  I remembered being asked by multiple students if I was gay?  I didn't respond obviously, but I remember thinking that who cares if I'm gay, straight, or bisexual I'm just showing my support because I don't think that it's right for anyone of any sexual orientation to be bullied. 

While in school students can take the vow of silence, and most teachers will allow them not to talk for the day.  In the case if a teacher asks the student a question on this day the student can't refuse to answer, and they must talk. Lastly, there are many ways to get involved with this in your schools, groups, sororities or whatever this article shows many ways to get involved.  I think that schools and colleges should have this. I would like to learn more through classes at RIC.  Everyone should get involved!
Comment: There is this one quote that I saw that I thought I should put on here that is very true! "I hate the word 'homophobia'. It's not a phobia. You're not scared. You're just an asshole!"

This video that I'm attaching is a Public Service Announcement for the day of silence.

 

 

Aria and Teaching Multilingual Children

Aria by: Richard Rodriguez
Teaching Multilingual Children by: Virginia Collier



Talking Points #2

Argument:

In my opinion, Collier argues that you should not take away a child's first language to try and get them to understand a public language. For example, if a child's first language or the language they speak at home is Spanish, don't make them stop speaking it just to learn the public language of English at school.  It has its pros and cons.  It is a good thing to become a better English learner because you will be able to understand and be able to participate more in school.  It can also be bad because it can take away the communication you have with your family if your parents can only speak Spanish.  In Collier's article Guideline #3 states, "Don't teach a second language in any way that challenges or seeks to eliminate the first language." What this is trying to say is by teaching students a second language, don't take them away from their native language.  In school, it should be okay to be able to speak more than one language.  Being bilingual or multilingual can be very important to a child's future and it may even help them.  In the article Aria, Richard was told he could only speak a public language which was English.  It got him and his family away from his native language, so he could only be fluent in one language.  When he went to school and learned only in English.  What happens in this article is exactly what Collier argues.  He shouldn't have been taken away from his first language just to speak English and make the nuns happy.  He lost his individuality by doing that.  Overall, Collier thinks that children should not be taken away from their first language to learn a public language it could hurt them in the future, and it could also take away their individuality! The link there goes to another article about how learning a second language means losing the first language, and I thought it was very interesting. 

 

Comments: I think knowing more than one language is really a better thing for most children.  In America, we are starting to use more and more Spanish in everyday life.  So, if you are able to speak both English and Spanish in America it can be very useful to you nowadays.  Also, I was surprised when I read that becoming stronger in your primary language was better than becoming stronger in both your primary language and a secondary language.  Apparently, being strong in your primary language can help transfer to a secondary language. Was anyone else surprised by that?  Lastly, just being strong in a secondary language can be the worst thing for a child, and I completely understood that.  Overall, this article was very interesting to read and I learned a lot about multilingual children, and how their primary and secondary languages affect them.

White Privilege

White Privilege:  Talking Points #1
Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack by: Peggy McIntosh

Quotes:

"White Privilege is like an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, maps, passports, code books, visas, clothes, tools and blank checks." (Pg. 1)
What I think this means is that all white people have privileges that others don't.  What McIntosh means by this is, black people don't have these privileges, and white people didn't have to do anything to earn them.  Also, I think it will be hard for black people to ever get the same privileges.  This ties in with the article because of the 26 conditions that are easier for white people to count on than they are for black people. 

"If I should need to move, I can be pretty sure of renting or purchasing housing in an area that I can afford and in which I would want to live."(Pg. 2)
This is one of the 26 conditions McIntosh lists in the article.  It means if she or another white person wanted to move she could move wherever she wanted without worrying if she had to afford it or not.  Also, the thing that is being implied that African Americans do not have this privilege like white people do.  They can't just get up and move where they want to.  They do have to worry about affording a place to live, so they have to live where they can afford to, so most of the time they do not have a choice.  McIntosh again is showing how white people have more privilege. 

"Whiteness protected me from many kinds of hostility, distress, and violence, which I was being subtly trained to visit, in turn, upon people of color." (Pg. 4)
When I first read this quote the first thing that came to my mind was "SCWAAMP."  Whiteness is the "W" in SCWAAMP.  Whiteness has more, power and privilege over any other race according to McIntosh and many other people in our world.  Whiteness protected her from all sorts of hostility and violence because they have more privilege than anyone else. That is what this whole article is about white people have so much privilege, and they don't even realize it.  They should not take these things for granted.

One point that I would like to bring up is where it said, "most students in the United States do not see Whiteness as a racial identity."  I never thought of it as a racial identity either until I read this article.  It definitely is a racial identity that has more privilege than any other race, but it shouldn't be that way.  When I thought of racism I always thought of how people where racist against black people or other races.  Whether it was the segregation or how poorly black people were treated back in the day.  Now I agree Whiteness is definitely a racial identity just like any other.  Most white people think that racism doesn't affect them because they are not people of color.  Racism does affect them because white people get judged just like any other race does because of all their privileges.  Each race has their own privileges, and according to McIntosh, whiteness has more privileges than any other race, and a lot of the time they don't even realize it! The link I put there is an article by Audrey Thompson about Whiteness Theory, and I thought it was interesting to read, and had to do with what we read for class.

The Life of Alex

 

My name is Alex Werchadlo.  I am the youngest of 4 brothers and 1 sister.  All my siblings are a lot older than I am. Most of them are married and have children. I have 3 nieces and 3 nephews and I've been an uncle since I was 7. I also have a new niece or nephew on the way, and I'm very excited.    I currently live in Woonsocket, but I lived in Cumberland and graduated from Cumberland High School in 2010. Over the summer I worked a lot at Abbott Run Valley Club in Cumberland teaching tennis. I love to play tennis I have been playing since I was 5 years old. I play #1 singles and #1 doubles for the RIC team. I am taking this class because I want to be a teacher in the future. I would like to be a math teacher because I actually like math, and it is something that I'm good at.  I love working with kids I do it all year long for my job, and with my family because of all my nieces and nephews.  So far I really enjoy this class, and I like going to it every week. This is a little about me, leave some comments, so I can learn some things about you!