Pro-Life Day of Silent Solidarity

With students from over 1,400 campuses involved in the Pro-life Day of Silent Solidarity, the event was a huge success as the message of life was proclaimed across the country. We have received many stories and thanks for hosting the pro-life Day of Silent Solidarity from both students and parents.

I know that many of you did face opposition, harassment, name-calling and, for a few, even suspension from school for taking a stand and being a voice. I have heard from some who told me that kids were trying their best to make them talk, calling them names and mocking them. I have heard that teachers and school administrators were making fun of some of you telling you that you were wasting your time or even comparing some to racists for being pro-life. But what I heard most is that you stood strong and did not cave into their mockery and insults. You remained faithful to your convictions and did as it says in James 1:2 &3 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.

In a world where tolerance is preached loudly and free speech is regarded so highly, it is a shame that a student who would stand up for life won't be tolerated. We live in such a culture of death and violence, and students who want to stand up against death and violence and be a voice for life are being punished. There is something so backwards about what is happening here, and we should be alarmed.

The harassment and mockery did not stop what happened on Tuesday; in fact, they made it more powerful. Tens of thousands of students at over 1,200 campuses helped bring a voice to the horrible violence that takes place in this nation every day. They were a voice for the over 1/3 of their generation that is killed every day by surgical abortion. They stood up and were counted in a peaceful, prayerful act of courage. They were quiet so the silent scream of their brothers and sisters could be heard across this nation. I am honored to be affiliated with kids like this.

If you have pictures or stories about the Pro-life Day of Silent Solidarity, please e-mail us

I'm still hyped about the day of Silence which took place today!!!!
my day was not as hard as i expected, which was a blessing. A lot of people had a hard time.

But there was one kid who ripped the tape of my mouth, but I didn't say anything about it.

There were so many people at my school taking part today, at least 2 in each of my classes.

I spoke at Glory (the Christian club at my high school) today about this day, to prepare everyone, and tell them that they were gonna get a lot of resistance from other students.

I spoke to about 6 or 7 pregnant girls and about 4 of them told me that they were thinking about getting abortions but after we talked they changed their minds. It was just an awesome day.

There were many kids who were saying very disturbing things about abortion, stuff about how they like it and stuff in that area, and they started making jokes about it. But not once was I pressured to talk, other than to those girls I spoke to who were pregnant.

Cant wait till next year!!!!!!

hi my name is matt reeves and i led the pro life day of silence today at my school it was a pretty good day. Im not sure how everyone else's day went but during mine quite a few people mostly girls changed their views on abortion to pro life it was rad. I have some pics of me and the other kids for the day so ill send them. Thanks for the great ministry and God bless.

I took part in my first Student Day Of Silent Solidarity today. It wasn't completely organized, or completely by the rules. I cheated a little...ok, a lot...and answered the questions people had about Stand True and why I was involved. I was the only one registered from Fletcher to participate, but 4 other people took armbands, and lots others promised to get involved next year. Even those who didn't get involved complimented our efforts and said they respected what we were doing. The turnout next year is going to be incredible!!! Thanks for putting together such a great program! :)

Hi my schools name is Tecumseh High School.

I live in Ohio. I am having a lot of fun doing this day.
I hope it is supposed to last 24 hours cause that is how long I am doing it for. I made my armband out of a red folder and I wrote silenced on it with a black marker. I got 7 other people to do it.
My best friend yelled at me and said "What are you doing this for that is gay". I wrote down on a piece of paper that I am standing up for what I believe in. She said " ok. What ever".

Later after i got off of school I went across the street to spread the word to my close neighbors and I wrote down on a piece of paper to her that she should read the paper for why I am being silent today. After she read it she gave me a hug and started crying.
She said "thank you! Thank you so much Michaline!" It made me feel so good. Later on her daughter came over and handed me an envelope. It was a letter from My neighbor saying that she never felt like she had forgiveness until today. Until I gave her that paper to read and stood up for what i believed in. I started crying really hard. I love that standing up for something I believe in so strongly could change some ones whole life.
It feels Really good.

26 years ago I silenced my child’s voice. I have lived in my own silent misery every day since then. I can personally witness to the devastation abortion brings. Abortion is not pro-woman it does not free us it captures us and throws us into a silent shameful abyss where we have languished until now. God is setting us free and casting away the shame and lifting us lifting me out of the silence today. I introduced a group of teens to the Day of Solidarity and they introduced their friends and they then introduced their friends to the Day of Solidarity and at last count there were 250 plus students at Springdale High actively participating in this awesome God driven day! I am so proud of these teens for standing by their convictions! I Have garnered strength from these teens and I now know that I cannot remain silent any longer about my abortion, I have heard their voices so loud and clearly today and I am touched beyond words. This generation is the generation!!!!

This is my story of what happened yesterday the students day of silence. On Tuesday I was silent from nine am until about three thirty pm. When I arrived at my home room class I was wearing a t-shirt that had a piece of paper duct taped to it. The paper said ask me why I’m not talking. As soon as I sat down there were a bunch of people who asked me why I was silent. I handed them the sheet from standtrue.com about the abortions and lots of people asked if I was going to be silent the whole day. I told them yes and had four other girls join me and not talk for the rest of the day. Me older sister who is in grade nine and one of her friends were also silent for the rest day. My parents were really supportive and proud that we would take a stand even though there wasn't anyone else in our class that we knew of that was going to support us. In my classes I don't usually talk a lot so lots of people when they saw me being silent for the whole day thought that it would be easy for me. A boy in my class tried to make me talk by poking me with a pencil and saying talk, talk, talk I wrote down that I wasn't going to and when he continued I took his pencil until he needed it for writing and that stopped him from making me talk. I guess it was the confidence and self control that stunned him and that I really did care about what I was doing. The truth is that until you are silent you don't realize what a gift it is to be able to speak. Before I started the silence I thought that it might be easier for me too, but soon realized that when you want to talk to someone they can plug their ears but can't fully not hear you. When you are silent though they can ignore you or misunderstand what you said (and you can run out of loose leaf lol). Difficulties: having my friends say hi as they walk by and not being able to say hi back, unable to say thank you to people, needing to find a piece of paper just to tell my friend that I was going somewhere. Yes I did speak a few times (and not on purpose): I had just finished a project and said to my partner (who was also being silent) "we're done." "I didn’t hear anything" she wrote after putting her hand over her mouth. I quickly put my hand over my mouth and was very careful for the rest of the afternoon. There were only a few people that didn't agree with being against abortions. The most common question I was asked was; What if you were raped then you wouldn't be against abortion. But if I were raped and got pregnant I would give birth to the baby (even if I was going to have to put it up for adoption), that’s better than killing someone innocent. I didn't wear duct tape on my mouth and now I kind of regret it because I know that it would of kept me from speaking those three times. So if you're thinking about doing the silent day go for it was a great experience and I do recommend that you wear duct tape if you don't want to worry about speaking accidentally .One boy asked me how not speaking would make a difference and I told him that hopefully people would remember what I did incase they ever get accidentally pregnant and that they would know that there are alternatives to hurting someone innocent. Sincerely, a proud supporter of Stand True.

Today was intriguing. I wonder if I should have waited until 12 to "talk", but I pretty much consider my day of silence over now.
I think I got about 3 or 4 other kids in my school to participate.
I did mess up in my calculus class, math always makes me blurt out things. It wasn't even the right answer!

The hardest thing about being silent in my opinion was because I watched debates happen and couldn't say anything. It was also difficult when kids thought it was funny to harass me and mess around.

If the only good thing that came from my day of silence was prayer, then that's enough in my opinion. Because we as Christians work in one unit- your success is my success, your failure my failure. It's one of the beautiful things about Christianity.

Optimally, there would be no day of silence next year because the children are saved. But I've learned a lot from my participation this year that could make next year a better success :-D.

Praise God for this opportunity and watching over us. :-)
I pray that women begin to choose life.

We anticipated 45 people, the ones who had given their names to me to sign them up, but we ended up with 70 PEOPLE at my school of 1000, some who joined us halfway through the day... I also had one girl come up to me and told me she had an abortion, but asked for an armband. Thanks!

I just wanted to thank you guys for publicizing this cause.. it felt great being able to finally do something about abortion.. its funny how I feel I made more of an impact by not talking than I would have by talking.. I guess it goes back to the whole "actions speak louder than words" and "preach the gospel at all times.. when necessary, use words".. as the day went on a few more ppl joined the cause and it was an amazing feeling.. I got support left and right - even from those who are not pro-life, simply cuz of my conviction to the issue.. bottom line - im so glad I was able to participate in this nation-wide solidarity.. though it was hard - I haven't been in such a good mood as I was today in a while..

Today was simply amazing...I do believe there was like 100 students in my school who participated. I don't think I have ever seen such support or unity in my school ever before.

Hey I just wanted to say thanks 4 doing this silent day. when I found out I was so excited because I've been against abortion but didn't know what I can do 2 make a difference outside of church. and after today I realized just wearing duct tape on my mouth for 1 day makes a HUGE impact. I got so many reactions from people, both good and bad, but most people were supportive n said that they wish they had the motivation and courage it takes to stand up for this great cause. I just had 1 question I wasn't really sure how to answer, and that is why today why not on 1/22? My main answer was y not every day this isn't a one day issue. this is a life that's being lost n one day isn't enough.

thanks TC & Adios,
-Manny

PS
I'd say that I cant wait till next year but im staying positive. I hope there is no next year 4 silent day that this country realizes that abortion is WRONG and can finally settle this problem and ban such a tragedy.

***************

Hey guys! I just wanted to thank EVERYONE who participated today in the 3rd Annual Students Silent Day of Silent Solidarity.

It was really awesome to see how many students were involved and how many students felt passionate about the issue of abortion. I realize how much it means to actually put yourself in a vulnerable position, especially in school.

I'd especially like to thank all those who helped me post and distribute flyers. Without you guys, I don't think we would have had such an outstanding turnout. I had personally started this “activity” at CCHS with the expectation that maybe several dozen would participate; but by the end of the day, nearly 1/3 [rough estimate] of the student body had a red piece of duct tape!

So many people participated, that administrators began to confiscate red duct tape because they felt too many students were getting involved and that it was becoming a distraction! One administrator attempted to pull that stunt on me during A Lunch, but I was able to get him to Mr. Foster, who verified that it was ok for students to distribute the tape.

So once again, I'd just like to say THANK YOU for participating. I hope you all were able to go to the gym for the group photo of CCHS Pro-Life Students after school. Unfortunately, I did not hear the announcement, so I was not there. I'm sure it was great though!

~ANTHONY-RAY~

AMEN!!
My son participated yesterday! It was his first year! We actually became affiliated w/ you 2 years ago at Creation, and then again at this past years March for Life. Dylan my son (13 & 8th grade) started a Christian school this year for many reasons but much because of bullying in public school. (His faith has amazed even my husband and myself!) He said he spoke twice. Once he slipped and asked for Ketchup please in the cafeteria...and oops for it! Then accidentally tripped a young lady getting up from his desk and said sorry! But We told him we were so proud of him just the same. Of the 15 children in his class, 8 students, although not diligently most, they joined. Right down to pinning notes on their shirts as well! His best friend and a few others were as committed to it as he was. His dean and teachers (one wasn't pleased, and caused quite a ruckus) were very proud of him, and praised his commitment to this cause. Today he was planning to speak to some people about how we feel.

I had Dylan when I was 18, getting pregnant at 17. There were suggestions of abortion, from people I was around, and there were "friends" that were in school with me that had abortions. It wasn't something that I considered...the Lord trusts us with gifts, for ourselves and others. He knows what he is doing even if we don't! Dylan doesn't know all the circumstances, but he knows the stats, he knows its murder and we have a loving father. He also knows there is HOPE no matter where you come from! I know his purpose is so much bigger than I know, or could have imagined then. I wish there was a way to help people understand the love of Christ, or see that yes this is a pro-choice issue. CHOICE OF RAISING YOUR BABY OR ADOPTION! But that is the choice! I am stunned how many people have the attitude I wouldn't do it but ...and how many men don't believe in it, or just take their "female counterparts" opinion. Or take the other stand because of other issues "homosexuality" ect. I am blown away! I very much would like to get more involved in this in our community. Could you please give us information on how to do that. From what I have found there really isn't' much here Annville PA. (I know there is nothing where I am originally from in Potter County PA)
GOD BLESS!!!!
Lisa

Hey guys...I just wanted to tell u how my day went today!

I woke up this morning, got ready, through on my Stand True shirt, grabbed my bible and flyers, and went to school!

When I first got to school it was difficult because everyone wanted to know what I was doing. I passed so many flyers (Thanks!) and then this girl came up to me! She read the flyer over my shoulder and made a kind of snorting sound. It was really odd because then she said, " those babies aren't even conscious. How are they supposed to know what's going? They aren't even alive and have no brain!" That made me kinda angry I will admit. But i bit my tongue. I just shook my head and walked away.

First hour was easy because all we did was watch a depressing movie about Edgar Allen Poe.

2nd hour was kinda hard....it was choir! I did sing for a while but only because singing is my grade. so, yah!

3rd hour we had a test and then we had to rehearse a dialogue which was interesting for me!

4th hour was math and we had to take a state wide test (MEAP here!) and that was kinda easy...but then we had lots of time afterwards. That's when I recruited a lot of people. They weren't silent but the had the red tape on in support so I was happy that at least i wasn't alone.

Lunch...oh boy! That was interesting. I left my flyers in my locker then because I didn't want to get anything on them...I'm a messy eater shh!...Many of my peers came up and asked me about my shirt (I had to make my own cuz i forgot to buy one..oops!) Anywho, at lunch my friend Mya and Alicia had to interpret everything i said, which they were pretty good at it too, surprisingly and that was frustrating! But once again I bit my tongue!

Have u ever tried going to the school store and trying to but a dance ticket without talking when your supposed. That was hard!

5th hour was probably the hardest after lunch because we had to work on a project with partners. I had to write everything down that i wanted to say! That was probably aggravating to her too!

6th hour i was called retarded, weird, psycho, and a few other things i can't remember. I couldn't talk obviously so I got others to join me there too!

So all in all it wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be so yah! Thanks so much for sponsoring this! I appreciate a lot and I think I planted tons of seeds today!

**~Mandy~**

This was the first year I'd participated. In fact, this was the first year I'd ever heard of this group. I had always been against abortion because in my mind, being raised catholic, killing children or killing anyone for that matter never sat right with me. Another thing I need to confess is that this was the first year I could ever openly admit I believe in god and I trusted him. Even though my school is catholic and we are taught to be Christians, there is maybe 1/4 of our school that believes. I am proud to say im part of the 1/4. All throughout the day, I had people call me names, give me dirty looks and laugh at me. I had a ton of flyers at the beginning of the day, once I started handing them out, almost all of them got thrown back at me or I found them on the ground. It was really hard to for me, someone who usually gives up at the first thought of confrontation of fallow through with what I believed was right. At the start of every class, I gave a letter to my teacher telling them why I was silent and asked them to please respect my decision. None of the teachers laughed at me, none of them looked at me funny. They encouraged me and wished me the best of luck, that was the only thing that kept me going all morning. Lunch was really bad. everything just got worse and worse. I was about to give up and forget everything when my friends little sisters group of friends came up to me and yeah they looked at me funny but I gave one of them a flyer and they all came back to get more. After a few minutes, they came to talk to me and told me how they admired what I was doing. A lot of my friends admire what I was doing. They said that they would do it too but none of them had the strength inside to go against what the majority of the school believed in. They still wore the arms bands for me and stuff. But to be honest, with everything I went through, all the names I got called, every time someone laughed at me, I wouldn't trade today for the world. Even if I was put down more then I care to admit, those 5-6 girls who came back to get the flyers reminded me of why I was protesting and why its important to take a stand and fight for what you believe in. I hope that everyone got the chance to feel that little bit of satisfaction that makes the whole thing worth it. And God bless everyone who participated, give us all strength for the days to come and for next year.

-Nikole from Pere-rene-de-galinee, Ontario, Canada

People
can be awesome, supporting, and truly amazing. And
then they can be back stabbing hypocrites. Today was
really the day when you found out who was not really
there for you. I had friends say they were pro-choice,
and they didn't make fun of me for having tape on my
mouth. They respected me for standing up for what I
believe in. Then there was the guy who I've known for
a year, that walked up to me and tried to pull the
tape off(he ended up bleeding from my nails). Then
there were the people who just showed how stupid they
are, running behind me and jumping up and down
shouting "pro-life pro-life" doesn't make me happy.
People need to grow up, you're in high school come on.

I don't know really how to describe today other then
pro-life students standing up for what they believe in
on one day, all together. But it doesn't quite grasp
the day when I say it, you don't get the feeling of
all those other people around your age standing true
to what they think is right.

Even the person who told me about this shocked me
today, she said she'd be silent all day, yet one of
the first things I hear when I get home is the phone
ringing, and it's her. I pick it up and tap it on the
table to let her know I'm there, she speaks. You lose
faith in people. It's not just the school day, this
day doesn't stop until midnight. I'm home completely
alone right now and I have yet to say a word even
without the duct tape over my mouth. I listened to my
favorite song and didn't make a peep.

Now I'm not saying I was totally silent at school, I
did say three words to cheer up a friend who was
participating today but broke. The stupid people at my
school were running around screaming "KILL BABIES!"
after the word got around that "those weird people"
are pro-life. she broke and starting cursing them out,
and they were sorry. but the only three words I said
were "ignorance, just ignorance". Needless to say
everyone in the classroom at that time agreed, and
since I never talk in that class and I was supposed to
be silent they were shocked I spoke. But I spoke on
behalf of my friends and those babies who are killed,
who I'm sure would be screaming at them too if they
could.

-Megan, CGHS

***************

I just took one picture of me in my room. The duct tape on me is hard
to make out but the stuff on my chest says "SILENT FOR THE SILENCED",
the 2 on my arms say "LIFE" and on my hat it says "1.22.73". Also on the
back of my shirt though you can't see it in duct tape it also says
"1.22.73 Silenced". It was fun times though. I had a few people giving me
controversy, but for the most part I was respected and I raised some
awareness too. Can't wait until next year! whoooo! Well I hope and pray
that next year we won't even have to do it because abortion will be
illegal by then. Hey with God anything's possible, right? Take care and God
bless!

-Steve

My sister and I got dressed and ate breakfast. It was hard to not talk at school. I accidentally said something once. Something great happened...after showing the card to 3 of my friends, they decided abortion was so horrible that they didn't talk all day either! [Even though they didn't have red armbands.] My teacher thought because I wasn't able to talk she couldn't pick on me. I made some signs and motions with my hands. But, that was the only time she picked on me. It was a great day...to realize that by not talking I might have saved a baby!

So, I did it. 24 hours without talking. It was incredible and i truly thank you guys for coming up with this. This day taught me so much about myself and about my friends. I thought that my friends and teachers would be really disrespectful and angry at this and i was even kind of scared about participating in this day because i thought I would lose a lot of friends.

But with God's strength I decided to do it and I was tremendously surprised at the reactions. All of my friends were moved by what I was doing, whether they agreed with it or not, and i even had one of my friends and a teacher say they were proud of me for standing up for what I believed in and respected me for it. At the last minute a couple of my friends even joined in. One friend actually took some extra cloth i had from my arm band and made arm bands for herself and others that wanted to participate in the day of silence. It was incredible. All my friends were really, really supportive and helped me out thoroughly throughout the day with communicating with my
teachers and with others. On top of all this I learned how strong willed I can be if I put my mind to it. I mean I know it's completely God's work in me but I never thought I would be so comfortable standing up for what I believe in and passing out the fliers so freely, without fear at what others would think of me. This day was incredible and though my friend accidentally made me slip up on the whole not talking thing she felt really, really bad about it and that was like my only slip up of the day. And it was really funny because somehow at the end of the day everyone knew that I wasn't
talking. I go to a really big school, over 1800 students and faculty, and the fact that the majority of the school knew what I was doing is crazy, seriously. So I learned that even though the majority of my school, and state are pro-choice, they are very respectful of others beliefs and I'm really glad for that. So thank you once again for coming up with this day and I can't wait till next year to participate in it again. God bless everyone in your ministry and I hope that many lives are saved through not only this event but all other events you guys host. Have a nice day!!

my friend Katelyn and I had let the date slip up on us so we weren't able to tell our teachers about our silence. so we decided to fast 2 meals together. she fasted lunch and dinner and I fasted breakfast and lunch. at school we had people asking us for tape for them to wear too and I even gave one girl one of the 3 pieces I was wearing. it really spread and I had many people ask me about it and i was able to share my reasons. some seemed a little annoyed but no one got upset. I think we really effected the school even though there were just a few of us. maybe next year there will be more.

it was very good! all of my teachers were very nice about it, so there was no problem there. it was hard to keep silent, but definitely worth it. it was also good because I asked a lot of my friends if they wanted to do it with me and I actually got three people to join in. 2 of which had previously actually been pro-choice! so im very glad to have changed there mind, and I also found out that the 3rd friend of mine was and almost aborted baby, and it really made me think of who's missing in there world, like who would be my best friend right now?

Well im sure you have many emails, and don't need to read this long one so I just send you the pictures! haha thanks again for having this organization, its wonderful!!!

So I got my Christian group at school 2 participate in silent day...it was really awesome!! but im getting some not so positive feed back from those who disagree with what we did...it makes me sad 2 see such obvious opposition. I mean killing babies is just WRONG! yet, for the sake of convenience, people think it's ok...keep praying for the unborn children and for all those who think abortion is ok, and thanks for everything u r doing it does make a BIG difference ♥

Earlier this year I had learned about the DAY OF SILENCE through www.standtrue.com and I couldn't wait for 10/24/2006 to come around.

I was able to spread the world and some friends became involved as well. Though a few were unable to be silent for the day, they knew what to keep their thoughts and prayers focused on as best they could.

For those who did, including myself, it's an experience that I feel blessed to have been a part of.
Though there were some hardships along the way, each one was worth it. And I know that next year when I participate, God willing, I'll only learn from this Day of Silence and be stronger.

Hats off to all of you involved, by the way. You bring inspiration to many.

God bless now & always.

Yesterday went well. I couldn't participate the whole day because I had an oral project due, but after that I was SILENT.

I faced a lot of hardships; people even tried to hold my arms and rip my tape off, but it was worth it.

Yesterday was awesome!. It was hard though with all the people saying stuff to you and making fun of us. My boyfriend has a class with one of my friends who was doing the day of silence and he told her "I hope you're happy, my girlfriend wont even talk to me now." but yeah. There was a few people who put tape on that said "choice" to protest against us. and said bad things to us. But, that just means even more that we made a difference to the babies that were saved, and to them. At my school though I felt that the life tape just became more of a trend then for the actual cause, Some of the people that wore it didn't even know what it was for. I'm glad the babies were saved!!. and, I can't wait to do this again next year. [if it even needs to be done then. ^ ^]

God bless, have a great day!.
-Ashley.

Yesterday was so amazing, I had a lot of people saying things to me and trying to get me to talk but i stayed strong, and today I had some people come up to me and they were asking questions and some of them said to let them no when it is going to happen again because they want to do it now. thank god that babies were saved I am so happy.
~marissa

Last year I participated in the student day of silence in my small country high school of about four hundred. At the beginning of the day I was the only one participating but by the end of the day there were about thirty students who joined in, my mom worked at the h.s. as a teacher so she was printing off flyers all day. In one of my classes this girl came up to me and asked if she could see a flyer after reading it she came up to me with tears in her eyes and told thank you and that it helped her so much because she had just found out she was pregnant and now she knew she couldn't abort her baby. PRAISE GOD!!! I got an opportunity not long ago to see this beautiful baby boy, he is a healthy bundle of joy!!! Thanks so much for helping me have voice!!!

Dear Stand True Ministries,

Hi, my name is Josh. Yesterday I participated in the Day of Silence in which I gave up my voice for a day in honor of the 46 million babies that have never had a voice due to abortion. I wore a red bandanna on my arm, red duct tape on the front of my shirt that said “01-22-73” and “SILENCED”, more red duct tape in an X on the back that read “I AM PRO-LIFE” as well a piece of red duct tape across my mouth with “LIFE” scrawled across it.

My day began early, just before 6:00 AM, so I could have time to make my shirt and accessories. The previous night my girlfriend and I had decided we weren’t going to talk to anyone until after school. So when I went downstairs to eat, my mom (who had forgotten that I was doing this) was confused because I wasn’t talking and I had to wait for my grandma to explain to her what was going on. I got ready, put the final tape on my mouth, and communicated to my grandma in hand-signals to take a picture. As I was leaving, my grandma said “God bless you for doing this. I am so happy you are standing up for your beliefs.” And I nodded and left for school.

In my car I wasn’t nervous at all until I got to the parking lot. I was really early, so I decided to sit and pray for a while, and ask God to give me strength. I listened to the Five Iron Frenzy song “Every New Day”, and the part in the end where Reese sings about struggles and how hard it is to take the next step made me think of Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” This gave me all the courage I needed, and I went to first period.

First period was the only class that my teacher didn’t know what I was doing (he had been gone so I had no way of telling him beforehand), so I decided as I was sitting in my seat to take the duct tape off my mouth off for his class. I am in that class with all seniors, and I don’t really know any of them, but when some asked why I wasn’t talking, I gave them the flyer, and one said “Although I don’t exactly agree with you, I respect what you are doing.” This was some of the only positive feedback I got all day. But one thing that really encouraged me was when the girl across the room who was the only other person in that class participating came over, smiled, handed me a flyer, and gave me a big thumbs up. I nodded, and this encouraged me to put my duct tape on.

Immediately when I walked into the crowded halls (my school has 3,100 students in it, so it’s ridiculously crowded) I got a ton of bad looks and snide comments behind my back. I paid no attention to them and just smiled back (I’m no the kind of person who is affected by the vulgar remarks that the majority of my school thinks will somehow make me “feel bad”…I have never let what people think of me put me down).

In my next class, I met my two friends who are in that class with me, and I thought that because they knew what I was doing and because they are both pro-choice, they would cut me down all period. I was pleasantly surprised. Both of them were very nice and respectful of me and what I was doing. It was SO hard in that class not to talk because the previous night we had written an essay on our views about people with HIV and AIDS (another subject I am extremely adamant about, I work for my grandpa who owns a Christ-centered AIDS help organization called He Intends Victory), and in class we debated our views. I quietly sat in my seat though.

At snack I met my friend Danny who basically got me through the day. He had agreed to be my communicator the previous day, and he did a great job at ordering me food and stuff like that when I wrote to him on a piece of paper. I am so grateful to have friends like him, who are not afraid to hang out with the kid with red duct tape on his face all day! He got me a bagel from the lunch line and I headed to my next class. Right before I walked in the class, someone asked me “Hey, why aren’t you talking?” and I gave them the flyer. I was kind of sad that this was the only person who asked me that all day.

In history, something compelled me to take the tape off my face for the period (I think because it was making my face all gross and sticky). BAD CHOICE! We did a group project, and I just kind of wrote what the other kids were writing because I couldn’t contribute, but when a girl asked me something, I instinctively answered her question, and right away my eyes got all big and I stuck the tape back on my mouth. I was SO sad that I had a slip-up, but when I wrote to her on a paper that I had messed up, she said she didn’t even hear me, so it made me feel a little better.

After that class I went to chemistry. This was my favorite teacher, and the day before, when I gave him the letter telling him what I was going to do, he said it was awesome and really respected it. I didn’t really get spoken to in that class except for one kid who was confused why I had duct-tape on my mouth, so I gave him a flyer.

At lunch, Danny and I went to the Bagel shop (we are obsessed with bagels and I really don’t know why, except for the fact that they are delicious!) and he ordered for me. On the way there and back, some people yelled at me as I passed them but I just smiled and gave them flyers in return. Danny got really mad at them, but right away I wrote down that you are ALWAYS supposed to react in love. I went into my history teacher from last year’s class, because I knew he would respect what I was doing. Out of all my teachers I have ever had, my AP Euro teacher was my favorite, and he is a man I greatly respect. He himself was a political activist when he was younger, and when he found out what I was doing he was totally happy and respected me. He told me that publicly standing up for my beliefs was great, and it made me feel a little better after all the put-downs that had been yelled in my face at lunch.

My last two classes were pretty uneventful except for a small slip-up in PE (I had to take the tape off to breathe. Once again, bad idea!). Last night when my mom got home, she talked to me about it, and asked how it went. I was a little sad because most of the reactions I got were either negative, or indifferent, and I felt like I had not made that big of an impact…like I didn’t have any effect on anyone, unlike my girlfriend (who goes to a different school) who had gotten tons of people to react and even got a bunch of kids to join her throughout the day. She told me something that really had an impact on me though. She said that it wasn’t about who did “better” or who influenced “more” people and that it wasn’t a contest. I told her I knew that and I just felt like I didn’t help anyone. She said that even if I had gotten just one person to at least re-consider how they felt about abortion, that I had done my job, and that, with all the 3,100 kids at my school, she was sure that I influenced at least one person, even if they were too scared to ask for a flyer. She also said that it was a group effort, with all the kids across the nation contributing, so it didn’t matter how many people you influenced, or how great of a job you did because all that mattered was the fact that you were standing up for your beliefs, and doing what God thought was right. This made me realize that in that sense, everything was a great success.

After her speech, I went onto myspace, and I was surprised to see that my inbox was full of messages from people saying “What you did was amazing” or “I completely stand with you in what you did, I was just too scared to do it myself.” This made me realize that even though people didn’t come up and talk to me, that I had affected them. All of this support has encouraged me so much, and next year, I hope to make a much bigger impact, because I know what to do and what not to do after having done this once before.

I talked to God and thanked him for giving me the strength to make it through the day, and I prayed for the children, and mothers, affected by abortion. I know what I did was the right thing. I stand true to my beliefs. All I hope is that through my actions, others realize that abortion is wrong.

Thank you for this inspiration,
Josh
Trabuco Hills High School, CA

Hey. at my school, i was the ONLY person doing the ay of silence. I got a lot of dirty looks, people talking about me behind my back, but in the end, it was all worth it. I know I affected quite a few people's lives. and i know im blessed for it! "For Christ I stand!"
♥ / Ashley

Today was a powerful day. I participated by covering my mouth with red duct tape, along with some of my friends. Some people questioned it, some laughed. But, I just didn't say anything. I showed everyone what I believed was wrong, and I think that's really awesome. All of you people that participated are really awesome. Thanks for taking a stand.

Yesterday I participated in the Students Day of Silent Solidarity. I was laughed at by some but also respected by others. My math teacher came up to me after class, shook my hand and said, "God bless you, Stacy." I had three teachers tell me that they respected what I was doing. One teacher rolled his eyes but didn't tell me to stop doing it. My Spanish teacher made me talk because I had to do a presentation but I only had to say one sentence in Spanish. Otherwise the teachers and staff at Ft. Pierce Central High School in Ft. Pierce, Florida were okay with it. I was the only one in my school doing it but I had three girls tell me that next year they want participate also. When can we start registering? =)
Stacy

It's amazing how being silent gets people's attention better than speaking about what I'm standing up for. today was amazing. the principal at my school stopped me from handing out the flyers and wearing the duct tape, but I was still silent. however, he really liked the idea and suggested we schedule another "silence day" for the same cause. some administrators at my school noticed (and commended us upon) how much passion some of us had for what we believed in. some people still made fun of me. some people would try their hardest to get me to talk. I did my best to ignore them, and I made a mental note to keep them in my prayers. today was difficult. it was worth it.

North Fort Myers High School's Day of Silence was a success!
Word about the pro-life kids going for the whole day without talking and wearing red wristbands spread throughout the campus like wildfire. Lots of material was passed around and everyone was talking about it!

I know you get these all the time. Body: but thank you..
I was adopted when i was one month old.
now I am 14.
but I was almost aborted.
like seconds away.
but I was not.
thank my savior i was not.
thank you very much for this.
:]]

my name is Mendi

Today was awesome. me and my friends did theday of silence with duct tape and all. it was incredible. we also went to malls and stores and several people were touched and encouraged. you guys rock!

Im sure you have gotten a lot of messages today but i just wanted to tell you that i participated in silence against abortion today. i believe that every life counts. Jesus would not have created that fetus if he did want it to survive. A lot of people mocked me and persecuted me but that's nothing compared to what Jesus goes through everyday.

Hello. I participated in the day of silence yesterday...though I was only at school until about 11(i was running a fever of 101.4 so I went home) my message had spread to quite a few people. I got laughed at and some strange looks, but when some of these people who laughed at me or gave me strange looks read the flyers I was handing out, they were proud of me for what I was doing. Some of them even joined in (a little late, but they still participated for the rest of the day). Even someone I knew who was pro-abortion participated in the day of silence. When i got home, I continued my silent promise too. My dad called me stubborn, but I think he had forgotten what exactly I was doing.

****************

I and a few of my friends from Holy Cross High
School in Delran, NJ are proud to have participated in The Student's day of Silent Solidarity. Please make note of my friends who participated in this movement with me.

1) Louie
2) John
3) Erica

We have found the experience a wonderful one, especially since it not only was a day of fun, but a day to pay our deepest respects to those who died, are dying, or are dead. Thanks for creating this movement and we hope to participate again along with more people on the next Silent Day.

Thanks again! Jonathan

Today I and many other fellow students from Oxford High School, and Rochester First Assemble of God, participated in the National Day of Silence, well we tried anyways, our principle made us take the tape off and before first hour even started, we were not even aloud to have it on our clothes, Those who fought kept the tape got Sent home and Suspended for 3 days. We did our best, we got teased taunted and things literally thrown at us, and signs were held up that said things like "I kill babies and Pro abortion and Pro choice and things at the worst I love watching babies die before they are bored. but by the end of the day it was all worth it because my Friend we call Lheler called her dad who is in a swat team, who called some part of the government and we are going to work things out for next year, But then he dad called parents and our pastor our youth pastors and leaders all came to our school when we got dismissed and stood outside with red "life" tape on our mouths. almost all of us missed the buses. At the beginning of the day there was only maybe at the most 20 of us but when our parents helped us stand up to the school we had over 50 people stand up. it was simply amazing, Cant wait for next year. ill get suspended if I must it that what is takes It will get the message across.

Wow.
Today was just wow.
It'll definitely be memorable, and I plan on doing it again next year. This morning, I wrote on three pieces of red tape: the one that went on my mouth said "Pro-Life", the one on my right hand said "John 10:27: My sheep hear my voice. I know them and they follow me", and the one on my left hand just said "Jesus" in big bold letters.
I came to school prepared; duct tape, flyers, "Pray to end Abortion" hoodie, the works.

When I got there, everyone was like "what's going on?", "what are you doing?", "what is this all about?" Just then and there four Christian kids decided to be silent with me and put on a duct tape armband [which I pre made that said 'Pro-Life Jesus Christ' on them =] Once I walked into first hour, however... my teacher said "no. no. take it off. we're going to see the principal." I stood my ground. I went to the principal, and I had to take off the tape and turn my hoodie inside out. But I was silent. And I passed out flyers. No matter what they could say or do to me, they could never take away my right to stand for Christ. For all of the unborn children silenced. By third hour, two more kids were silent. And by fifth, three more were. I was prohibited to take pictures, because it's "against the code of conduct", but I did get to take a picture before school.I took a stand, and definitely made my principal and teachers despise me for it. But it was worth it to spread the word and show how Jesus can impact our lives, and raise awareness that this has to stop. I'm so glad I could take a
part in this.

Thank you for this opportunity.
And I got to witness to a few people in the process.
Yours in Christ,
Mike.

***************

Today, we had the Day of Silence at our school, Madisonville North Hopkins High School in Madisonville, KY. I'm glad to say that we had over 96 student participate in the event. Some of these kids got detention, just for not speaking. There were even people who just wrote LIFE on a piece of paper, and taped it to their mouths!! Now THAT'S what I call dedication. Though, there were some kids who even wrote "CHOICE" on a white piece of paper, and taped it to their mouths. But what I found to be most awesome, is that no matter where you walked in the hallways, there was ALWAYS someone talking about it! All I heard was, "Hey, did you see any of those kids with that duct tape on their mouths?" but there was also a few, "Hey retards, why are you wearing tape?" Overall, it was an awesome day! I was only expecting about 40 people to participate, but God blew me away with over 96 people!! That's MY story!!

My name is Seth, and many of my fellow students at Canton Junior/Senior High school and I participated in the Silence today.

I had completely forgotten that it was the 24th this morning and when I got to school, my memory was instantly jogged when I saw my three compatriots brandishing red and silver duct-tape. Before we donned our symbols of protest, however, we went to the principal to get permission. He said he was all for the event (as long as it wasn't violent or disruptive of the education process) and even advised us that next time we should make it part of a school club so there would be more awareness. I think it's awesome that we have such a principal!

So we four went down to the chorus room and met our friends there who also wanted to participate. We all taped our mouths shut, made arm bands, and wrote things such as "Justice for ALL", "Life", and "Silenced" on the tape. Then, the first bell rang, and our time officially began. The first comment we received was "Why do you have duct-tape on your face?"

In my first class, Yearbook Layout, many questions were thrown at me, and I was able to meet each with the same answer: a pamphlet. People asked how I was going to eat, too, but I chose to ignore that (people were also confused by my 30 hour famine shirt; I made hand gestures to show that I wasn't doing that today). Most of the class thought it was cool, except one, our organizer's sister actually, who said she hoped it would hurt to take off the tape.

Next, in gym, I had a chance to hand out more pamphlets and even go into town, because we went bowling. I had to gesture to the bowling alley's owner to tell him how many games I was paying for, and hoped he knew what I was trying to say. He did.

Then, in Networking, Army recruiters came in and seemed to support it all. They passed one pamphlet around and all read it, and the last person gave it back smiling.

The most painful part of the day was at lunch, when I had to remove my duct-tape from my slightly unshaven face. One guy actually pulled out some hairs...

In chorus,. we sang, but didn't speak. We recruited more people before the class was over.

Statistics was different, because there were more people than in any of the other classes. By this time, everybody in the classroom had already seen somebody with red tape on. Some gave me smiles, others stared, others make joking comments, and one told me that she was pro-choice. I was determined not to speak, though, no matter how hard it was.

Before Advisory, one kid came up to me and openly said that he liked what we were doing and defended me in Advisory when people mocked or tried to irritate me.

All throughout the day, we recruited more people, used more tape, and turned more heads. There wasn't one person who didn't take notice of our silence. It was just. Pure. Awesome. Whoever came up with this is a pure genius and I thank them.

The day of silence was great. i wore my red duct tape and brought some to school to hand out. when some people read the fliers they wanted to join me. about 5 people wore red duct tape with "LIFE" on it on their shirt, and 4 people became silent with me. my silence caused a few heated discussions amongst students in one of my classes. i also got a lot of negative response but it didn't bother me; i did it all in the name of Christ!

psalm 5:11

I am part of a small Christian college so we all believe that abortion is wrong. But at my school I was still asked why I was doing the Day of Silence and people were in a way upset with me for doing it. One guy told me that is was pointless because we all believe the same thing, but obviously he didn't realize that my not talking was because I was supporting others that weren't. He didn't understand that I wanted to be silent all day because I knew that I wasn't going to be confined to the school campus and so when I saw people that were thinking of abortions or supporting them, I was ready to be a "voice". Another girl came up to one of my roommates and ripped off her armband without saying a word. We still don't know why she did this but she did. We were willing to be silent this day because even in a Christian school there are people that do not understand. I believe that we touched some people here at school and that we made a difference.

I'm in 11th grade and I had first heard about this day through my friend, Matt last week. It was posted on our MySpace bulletins to get it going. When I first heard about it, I was set on doing it and then they day finally rolled around. Truth told, I was really feeling strange when I walked up to Matt to get my red duct tape from him and he had the tape over his mouth. I instead placed it around my wrist (and it hurt when it came off) and proceeded to my first class of the day.

Pre Calculus wasn't a hard class to sit through - pop quizzes helped. After the quiz, the substitute let us sit around and...talk. My best friend got very annoyed and decided that she wasn't going to talk to me the rest of the day - or read anything I wrote. English was the next class. As I walked down the hall, I saw Matt still faithful with his red duct tape over his mouth. Though I did talk in English because I had a presentation to do, other than that, it didn't pose any other problem.

And my favorite class of the day, gym. With all my friends in that class, 3 of us were doing the day of silence. And in a class of about 60, it was quite a challenge, but we all pulled through. I had also warned the teachers that we were not going to talk, so they helped explain what we were doing and the cause of it.

During lunch, I found which friends I could really count on. One of which really displayed his beliefs. We finally got up and left because the other friends weren't really sticking up for us even though they supported what we were doing to an extent. By this time, I had stuck a piece of tape over my mouth with the word "LIFE" on it and had a wrist band on each wrist with many patches of tape with "LIFE" written on them on my pant legs. And after that, it was study for me at least.

Study wasn't hard at all. I am in a completely silent study and someone else was doing the day too. The only hard part came when I needed to tell the teacher that I had forgotten to get a pass so I could go and take an English test and that she needed to give one to me. After writing a quick note, it was taken care of.

Overall, it was a great day. Even though I couldn't talk to my friends (and some didn't even want to look at me), I feel like Matt, Mark and I became closer through this. And after struggling with my faith during these past few months, this was a great inspiration to me. And it felt really good when several people seemed to understand what we were doing and actually respected that. The most "resistance" I found was in my group of friends. In fact, when taking that English test, one of the teachers I saw in the room asked what I was to do when I sneezed!

~Nicole (Goffstown High School)

Hi, my name is Eva and I am a student at Cypress Creek High School in Orlando, Florida. As you all know, today was the 3rd Annual Day of Solidarity. It's basically a stand against abortion. If you were to participate, you were not allowed to speak for the entire day. You had to wear a piece of red duck tape across your mouth that had the word, "Life" on it and if not, you were to wear a red band around your arm. Today, I was a participant in this event. I woke up, ready for my challenge. As I was getting ready in the morning for my day at Cypress Creek High School, thoughts were swimming through my mind as to how people would react. Once I arrived at school, students started to stare as if I was some freak of nature. I did not care. I kept right on walking. There were many people there that were asking me for red tape, but I just looked at them because I knew they only wanted the tape for fun. They did not even know why we were doing it. They thought they would look cool I guess. It just annoyed me more when they started to talk anyway. A lot of people asked me why I did it and I simply wrote, "I'm doing it for the innocent lives of unborn babies who never had a choice to live or die. "This one guy in my class told all the participants to "get a life" because it was the "dumbest" thing to do. Of course, I stood strong and simply ignored his crude remarks. On the positive note, many people had supported me throughout the day. It was not difficult for me because I guess I never really talk anyway. All in all, today was a great experience for me because without a voice, you will feel helpless.

My mom heard about this day of silence on the radio and thought it sounded really cool so she told me about it. I was immediately interested and went to the silent day website to find out more. I printed out the fliers and showed them to a few of my friends and asked if they would do it with me and they said they wanted to but they didn't think they would be able not to talk for an entire day (I mean for a high schooler that takes a TON of effort). The night before silent day me and my only other friend who had actually agreed to do it got together and made t-shirts. On the front it said,
"NO VOICE,
NO CHOICE.

1.22.73
48,000,000 SILENCED"

and on the back it said,

"Since January 22, 1973 over 48,000,000 babies have had their voices silenced through surgical abortion in this nation. Children in their mother's womb have been dehumanized.

Over 4,000 children have their lives taken in each day in the name of choice.

***************

STAND TRUE"

They were red with bold black writing and they really got noticed at school. So from 6:15 am to 3:50 pm we were silent. During basketball, lunch, class, everything we stayed silent. During my first class every single person asked me why I wasn't talking and I just handed them all a flyer. By the end of that 52 minute time period I had 15 of 35 kids joining me. For the rest of the day only a few people asked me about why I was quiet an I handed them a flyer too but I noticed that there were a ton of people that weren't talking that I hadn't talked to. After school I asked some of them and they said that they had read one of my fliers and thought it was for an awesome cause so they decided to do it to. Freshman, sophomores, juniors, and seniors were all joining in and all because one little freshman and her friend decided to speak up by not speaking for those who couldn't.

All day we only had one person say something negative about it. She came up to me after school and said, "You're the one who got everybody to be quiet all day for abortion?" "Yes..." "That's so horrible! What's next are you going to have other people decide what you can eat or what you can wear?" and all I said was, "What's next are you going to have other people decided whether you get the chance to live?" and I could see instantly in her face that she really was thinking very hard about it. "No." she replied. "Well I don't think I would like to have somebody make that decision for me either. You and every other person on this earth are a gift from God and we as human beings have no right to stop a gift from God being shared with the rest of the world." she then thanked me for helping her understand why we were doing this and then went on her way. It made me feel really great to know that I had open a person's eyes to how horrible abortion really is.

It was amazing to see how not having a voice affected my life and I thank God every day that I'm alive. And my friend too. She was adopted and her mother could have made that decision to have her aborted but thankfully she didn't and so now I have a best friend who can honestly say she was a step away from death before she was even born. When a group of people stand together for a common cause it's miraculous what can happen.

I got up that morning and decked myself out in red tape.. Had my red band that said, "Pro-life." And I had written on my wrist band Proverbs 31:8-9. So I went to school there was a lot of people taking part in this I was amazed I had brought some tape in just in case someone would need some well, they did. So I went to my first class which was Spanish. My class was in an uproar over the whole thing. Kids were being very disrespectful. Some of the comments I got were:

I think that I was saying a lot more by not speaking than fighting with them. It was very hard I stayed silent but it was hard hearing all these comments and not being able to say something back. I was very angry at these students. I was thinking when I speak the next day I am going to say something to them about this. Well, I sat down and read my Bible and I opened it up to Proverbs 15:1 and it said, "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but harsh words stir up anger." I was amazed I was ready for the next day to argue with the people but, then I read this and I was like its true if I fight with them then what is there to gain except stirring up anger. My friend showed me some verses about abortion or why abortion is wrong in the Bible and I was going to share these with the people I talked to the next day. I shared with my friend the next day and she said, "Wow." She seemed like she was thinking about it and seriously considering what it was saying. The verse was Jeremiah 1:5. I learned a lot from the day of silence. I got to experience what it is like to not be able to speak your opinion and have a reaction a lot like what those aborted babies don't get to do. We don't hear them cry, laugh, talk, or get to have them as a friend. They just aren't there. And I also got to show people what it would be like if my parents would have aborted me.