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My name is Rebecca Owens from Winter Park High school, Florida. I also wanted to tell you thank you for the motivation of standing up for what we believe. The day after my algebra teacher told me that he was proud of what I did because if it wasn't for people like us who believe in Pro-life, he wouldn't be here today because his mother almost aborted him. So thank you again.

Another thing, three other people joined me the day of, spur of the moment, that did not register. Just so you know. Have a good day

-Rebecca

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My friends and i protested today.
Lehigh Valley Performing Arts High School
in Bethlehem Pennsylvania.

it was amazing. it caused lots of drama at our school. but i was quite the whole day,
my best friend is adopted. if her mom had chose abortion, i wouldn't have a best friend.
she is lucky, but what about those children that don't have a voice. they are someone's best friends.someone's soul mate. they are a SOMEONE.

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I come from Harbor City International High School, in Duluth, MN. The stories I can tell about this day of silence aren't spectacular, but they are still stories. One, in particular, stands out as something I would like to share.

As far as I know, I am the only student who participated in the Day of Silence. My school is an extremely liberal school, and it took more courage than I thought I had to walk into that building today with my red armband, and the scotch tape over my mouth.
I got quite a few neutral comments after people read the flyers. My first negative comment came from a friend of mine during second hour, and then I found myself surrounded with statements of "I'm pro-choice" or "So you like over-population, huh?" -- that was hard.
During fourth hour I am a teacher's assistant in a Spanish One class. Since I couldn't talk, I sure wasn't doing much. My sister (she attends a college a couple of miles from my high school) dropped by and pulled me out of class. She gave me a card of encouragement, which was a total Godsend.
Her reminder that I had lots of people praying for me (along with some in-school support) came just when I needed it, and I believe that God sent her when He knew that I needed a boost of courage to make it through the rest of the day.

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Hello,

I am a social studies teacher at a high school in the St. Louis area. Today several of our students participated in the Day of Silence. There was some discussion of it during my early classes, but I politely noted that the students' right to express themselves as stated in the Supreme Court case of Tinker v. Des Moines. (It was a very teachable moment, in fact.)

However, later on in the day I got some very, very disturbing news. The head principal of my school, under the inexplicable advisement of our district lawyer, began ordering the students to remove the duct tape from their mouths. One of my students was literally hauled into the principals office and told to remove it. She refused, writing out the fact that the first amendment and the Tinker case protected her right to do as she did. (According to the student, the administrators did not know of the Tinker case and had to look it up... and then they inaccurately told her it did not apply to mouth coverings.) The principal did not relent, and sent the kid on to the counselor's office, where the counselor also tried to persuade the kid to remove it. In tears, the student finally relented.

And she was not the only one. Other teachers told me of principals accosting students in the hall and ordering them to remove the duct tape, first off their mouths and then off their arms.

Naturally, when I talked to some of the students after school, I was furious. Nor was I alone. At least a few of my pro-choice colleauges were equally angry, in no small part because the school had so flagrantly violated the students' first amendment rights.

It wasn't right what happened, and I wanted to pass it on to you in hopes that perhaps something could be done about it.

Sincerely,

a high school teacher

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I must say, I was becoming quit discouraged when everyone at my brand new school began to look at me funny.
People would ask about my red tape, and I'd hand them a flyer with a serious, thoughtful look. Not a single person understood the true meaning, so I wrote a little note on each flyer, "My silence represents the millions of babies who never got to speak due to abortion", Once this was done...people were asking more and more questions.
I have names, numbers, and email addresses for me to get back too so I can spread the word, not only about abortion, but about God.
I was truly blessed when my 7th hour teacher was willing to accept my action with open mindedness, and with that, each student asked for a flyer, and many students (although the end of the day), asked if they could too, become silent with me. Amen, October 25th was a huge success as far as I am concerned, because although I got discouraged, it was worth it to know that I now have people who want to participate in the fight against abortion.

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My name is Ryan, and I am a student at Woodbridge Senior High School. Last year I participated in the movement, and I was delighted to do so again this year.

This year, however, the administration of my school told teacher to confiscate any material pertaining to this movement and to send anyone with it to the office.

Just before the bell rang for first period, my teacher confiscated all the papers (the paper available at the Stand True website), including a paper defining our legal rights that was given to me by the person organizing this at our school. Immediately after the class I went to the principal, who would only tell me that the school would not allow the distribution of any literature not approved by the school.

Later, I was called down to see my assistant principal, who said much the same. Both were very gracious: neither asked me to speak, understanding the point of the movement.

I met with the organizer for our school, a good friend of mine, and together we went back to the assistant principal and spoke with him to gain an understanding of why we weren't permitted to give the papers to students who asked. He said that we could say what was going on, we could even wear larger versions of the paper taped to our shirts (which we were), but we could not give out papers to anyone. Why not? Handing out papers takes it to the "next step."

The principal sent out an email detailing the procedure the teachers were supposed to take. In it, he emphasized that the movement was not endorsed by the school. A teacher, a close friend's mother, replied to the email, "How does this get sponsored?" The principal responded only with: "It doesn't."

I am currently in the process of writing a letter to the American Center for Law and Justice detailing everything that happened. The person who organized the movement for us is also getting in contact with her family's lawyer, and doing research into what our rights are.

This is unfair, to stop students from expressing themselves just because the school is afraid of not being politically correct. Abortion is an important issue. Why shouldn't be we allowed to talk about it? We cannot just pretend it doesn't exist, we can't ignore it and hope the whole thing goes away! The school is trying to do just that: pretend that issues don't exist. They're so concerned with being politically correct that they are violating they very rights they're trying to protect.

My employer said it best: "If it was a pro-choice movement, they wouldn't have cared."

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This day of silence was brought to my attention by members of our youth group, for which I'm the leader. They all decided they wanted to participate in this day to show their support against abortion.

The kids range from middle school to high school level. No problems at the high school.
However the middle school was a different story. My niece attends there and was told along with 22 other students that they must remove the duct tape and/or bandanas. That they were disrupting classes. My nieces had designed her own t-shirt explaining what she was doing. She was made to cover her t-shirt up. Still she refused to speak, at which time she was informed that if she did not speak, she would be suspended for "non-participation"

Now we as parents are planning a protest of our own. Armed with red duct tape, bandanas and t-shirts of our own design. And banner that will say..."They were silenced in the womb and now they are silenced in school hallways."

The reasoning behind all this is that one parent complained. Well it only took one atheist to have prayer and the ten commandments removed from the school. Since when is it disruptive for middle school students to remain silent. The last time I was in the school the teachers were telling the students to be quite. But that was when it was convent for them.

We plan on standing behind our kids and our beliefs. To fight for what we believe in till the end
Would appreciate any and all help from your organization on this matter.

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So today I did the day of silence and the outcome was rather surprising.

I had told some people about it beforehand...no wait...I told a lot of people. nobody seemed to interested. so I figured I pray about it and just do it myself if I had to. I prayed during some of my classes and as people came up and asked what I was doing some of them joined me. Some people said that next year they would do it with me if i reminded them so I promised them I would.

throughout the day I had people try to make me talk and say that since they didn't support me they would talk louder and more than they usually did. all I did was sit it out and pray. I could tell that I would get confronted about this for a while. but I realized that God was putting me in this place to try to make a difference. help oh so liberal MA change.

I sent many of them to StandTrue.com and gave them the fliers that I had printed out. I found most of the fliers in the trash or on the ground, but it just made me want to try harder.

I decided that next year I would take this to the school board and try to get announced, get more people involved. I realized that if I start that, maybe it would become as big or bigger as the day of silence for gay rights.

I realized that God put me in MA for a reason, to make a difference in one of those states where "if its considered immoral there then its just fine here".

I think that the worst part of the day was realizing how so many people are un open to peoples views and so un respectful. its so sad to see the way people treat people who have different views.

I hope that the day went well for others, ill continue to pray

God Bless,
Megan

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I have attached 3 pictures of my friend and I who both participated on our campus for the day of silence. We attend the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma, a very liberal campus. We received opposition. Through the day, pro-choicers started wearing armbands that said "choice." They called us stupid (among other names) because we couldn't even speak up for what we believed in, but their real problem with us was that our silence was speaking too loudly. In the evening we did a silent prayer walk around our campus and I felt the power of God with us. It was awesome.
-Stacie

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Silent Day was a big deal at Bearden High School!! My friends and I passed out flyers and painted our school rock!! It was a hard day not because of the not talking but thinking of the abortions and being harassed!! All day people would rip the tape of our mouths and try to get us to talk but making us angry!! People said they would rape us to see what we would do when we got pregnant we prayed for these people all day long and we got criticized even for our faith!! Still today 3 days later we continue to wear life tape on our jeans and backpacks!! People continue to question us about or belief on abortion and we tell them the same thing!! And they still ask why we are still wearing the tape when it’s over and our reply is that silent day might be over but abortion isn’t!! And people are still
harassing us by email and phone calls but we continue to pray that God will End abortion and send us a Revival!!

IN Christ,
Kelsey and her friends

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hi..
its glad to see that the Day of Silence worked!!
i did have to break my silence because one of my teachers was being, well, pushy? she saw that i had the papers, and she signed a permission slip saying that i could be silent (which i had signed on Friday) and kept trying to get me to answer questions. i had to finally say 'what if i was aborted, how could i answer you then?' needless to say, the whole class got the point of the day, and the teacher was awestruck. but, completely awesome, to make people think about the 1/3 of our class that isn't there, because they were murdered.
take care,
caiti
new jersey

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Ya....I got all the little comments of "Ya..those little babies need you..shh!" along with the laughs..I just gave them that "Don't hate me because you kill babies" look. It was great..I felt like I was doing something worth while..I got a total of like 150 ppl to do it...It got spread real good.. And plus my principal is pro-life...that made me happy to hear it. I got all the big people of the school to do it.. :-D

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i know now that next year I'm going to make a much bigger deal out of what I did.

i have many friends who, year after year, participate in GSA's Day of Silence against homosexuality bashings, it's stand against the violence, not against how you feel towards it. they've always had the rule that if a teacher asks you to speak in class, you have to speak. that was the rules, so u didn't get in trouble.

However, we have rules that you're not allowed to wear bandanas or anything else tied around your arm or leg, and of all the administrators i saw that day, not one said a single thing.

i started out as the only person in my school doing the day of silence. first period, one of my good friends joined me. at lunch, a half dozen more joined me.

next year I'm getting red duct tape and placing it over my mouth. it's a statement, and people notice when I'm not talking, especially.....

thank you for letting me be involved in something so amazing.

}i{ Jennifer }i{

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I'm a 17 year old senior in Kentucky. I did the day of silence with no problems, the only snag was was that we couldn't wear the duct tape for safety reasons. There were over a hundred people in the high school that supported the cause. However, there were 22 in our middle school and all of them were called down to the office and told to talk or be suspended. The only reason that was given was because the principal was pro-choice. A lot of parents complained and it is still going on even now.

We also had a few students get some of the duct tape and write death instead of life. And there were a few other students that decided to stay silent, for the women that are raped and get pregnant and have an abortion because it is after all HER choice. I know these are their beliefs, but they all knew very well that Tuesday was the day of silence for those against abortion. They'd rather have a million babies killed before they even have the chance to form, rather than give them that chance and put them up for adoption, and give another couple a chance with the child or children.

Last year only a handful of students from the high school here participated in the day of silence and only one from the middle school did it. Maybe next year I hope we'll double in size.

Rebekah

***********************************To Bryan Kemper

My 12 yr old daughter participated in the day of silence and had such an impact by her silence that I thought to reward her for her efforts and also keep the statement she made in her school fresh in the memories of the students that asked her about her stand. She recruited 3 fellow students, all of her 7 teachers, her counselor, her vice principal and a yard duty teacher to join in her stand by the end of the school day. She also handed out over 100 fliers by the end of the day. I would like to have a t-shirt made for her with the "she is a child, not a choice" logo on it, but realize that there might be copyright infringements on the use of this logo. Can you tell me if it is possible to purchase a shirt or have a copy of the design sent to me so I can have a shirt made for her? Thank you so much for hosting this stand. It does a mom's heart good to know that not everything I teach her is just something she considers to be "uncool" and blows it off. If she hadn't asked me if she could take this stand I wouldn't have known that she has listened to me in this respect. It is good to know that even at such a young age that my daughter is becoming a young lady that is worthy of my respect and is not ashamed to stand up for the right thing even when its not necessarily a "cool" thing.

Thank you,
Stephanie

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Hello,

The is Valerie from Bradley Academy for the Visual Arts in Pennsylvania. Tuesday was awesome. In a highly liberal school there were 6
students with arm bands and I also had tape over my mouth. Besides getting harsh looks and being called weird, my college was very accepting. The only real problem we had was with the poster. We tried hanging it up around the school but the president of Bradley thought it could be to offensive. So we obeyed and stuck to handing out the little flyers when we were asked why we
were not talking. I even had one instructor thank me for taking a stand. This was very surprising because I thought this particular instructor would
be very much against it.

I thank God for this opportunity to Shine His light in a very dark place and to help the silent screams of Gods little ones be heard.

God Bless,

~ Valerie

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