Photo Illustration by Gabbi Forrest

Stand up, speak out, make a difference. Mostly, everyone wants to have their voice be heard, they want to matter. Some people march in front of the White House, or in front of a state capital, rallying and protesting for rights and change. But not many high school teenagers can go hold picket signs for every issue they feel strongly about. Recently, Whitney has seen these national events advertised through the media, and clubs brought them to our campus, as a way for teens to raise awareness for certain causes they support.

First, there was the TOMS “One Day Without Shoes.” The point of the event was to go barefoot for a day, to raise awareness for kids who don’t get the privilege of wearing shoes. Clearly, this was only spread through Facebook, because if the TOMS club had promoted it at school, I’m sure an advisor or administrator would have canceled it. As soon as the 7:45 bell rang on April 5, administrators warned barefoot students that if they didn’t put shoes on, they would be sent to the office, for “safety concerns.” The only safety concern I could imagine is someone stepping in spit or a mashed up apple. Obviously everyone wasn’t running around with scissors or prancing on broken glass. The announcement somewhat rained on everyone’s barefoot parade, as mainly everyone glumly returned to being safe and shoe’d. However, some students still stayed barefoot to stand up for what they believe in, even though most on them got into trouble. Students were even chased down by teachers, who probably had something more important to do than serve as the shoe police.

After seeing how the “Day Without Shoes” failed, the next two events went off without many problems. The LGBT Day of Silence (April 22), and the Invisible Children 25 Hours of Silence (April 25). Even though going barefoot was a lot less troublesome than not speaking, teachers understood students were staying silent, and most avoided calling on them. The GSA (Gay-Straight Alliance) club held a meeting beforehand, and kids participating were given cards to show to teachers and friends, informing them they were not speaking to raise awareness for people in the LGBT community who have been silenced due to inequalities. Students supporting the Invisible Children cause could buy shirts and a dogtag that had little “day of silence” cards to hand out in it.

I think these days of silence, or any way to show support for something important, is great. Instead of playing the shoe police, teacher should encourage this type of expression, maybe offering extra credit points for participating in days like this. It doesn’t seem fair teens aren’t allowed to participate in these days when high school is supposed to “prepare us for being an adult after we graduate”, where clearly being silent or barefoot isn’t a big deal when you’re an adult. Teens should have more of an opinion than whether Uggs and short-shorts are still in or not. After high school, we go out to the real world, where we can actually vote on issues like gay marriage or marijuana legalization. So someday in the near future, our voice can really make a difference.

By GABBI FORREST