To speak or not to speak, that is the question

This past week at RB, two days of action were carried out. One of them was the Day of Silence for Pro-Life which occurred October 20th. Few students chose not to talk to try to make their point and support the pro-life cause. Minimal results happened. The second day, Day of Service, which took place October 17^th, had much better results. More than 500 students participated in the Day of Service doing random acts of service to help benefit the community.

For hundreds of years, people have been trying to get their points across in many different ways. One of the fastest growing methods is simply not talking. Days of silence are occurring in more and more schools each year, and are showing no signs of slowing down. But where are the results?

The Day of Silence, which is now in its 13^th year, is a national, student led event that brings attention to all lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, and transgender people that have been silenced due to discrimination.

Senior Emily Chapman, who has been involved with Riverside Brookfield’s Day of Silence, said, “The goal of the Day of Silence is to get people to recognize how hard it is to be who you really are, especially if you are constantly being judged or made fun of.”

In an ideal world, people would see this day, take it to heart, and do their part to help. Realistically, people do not change their opinion very easily. Just because people choose not to talk for a day does not mean it is going to change people’s minds on the topic.

Some people agree with the goal of the Day of Silence, but they do not participate because they simply don’t believe in not talking.

“I strongly believe in what the Day of Silence stands for, but I have never participated in it, and I don’t plan on it either,” Senior Ian Robertson said.

The Day of Silence’s website states that more than 8,000 schools and 100,000 students participated by not talking for a whole day. But visual results are not there. Especially since more and more acts of violence are occurring due to discrimination and harassment every year.

I would like to make it clear I have nothing against what the Day of Silence stands for. The point I’m trying to make is that I feel like there are more effective ways of getting a point across than not talking.

Get out and do something for your cause. Don’t just walk around all day and not talk.

Coming home again

Obviously one of the most talked about events this week, if not this year will be homecoming. The football game, pep rally, and annual dance combine to induce school spirit among the student body and excite age old competition between upper and lowerclassmen.

This year’s homecoming king and queen were Mark McDonagh and Emily Chapman. After they were announced at the dance the winners shared a dance to “My Wish” by Rascal Flatts.

However everything did not go totally smoothly for the king and queen. Apparently the student body did not want to separate so that the king and queen could go down the center aisle. Eventually the students were dispersed and the dance continued.

The music selection proved to be suitable both for people who came alone and for those who had dates.  Some group favorites were the “Cha Cha Slide” by DJ Casper and the “Soulja Boy”. Other popular songs used were Taylor Swift’s “Love Song” and “You Belong with Me”. The music followed the theme of going through the ages with the minor leaps into the 21^st century.

The decorations were completed thanks to the RB Student Association. One particular poster designed by S.A. demonstrated the dress styles of each time period.

Students strutted their stuff on the dance floor for most of the night, which really helped to make the evening a success.

The food selection was extremely varied this year. Refreshments ranged from cookies to pretzels, with drinks like water and kool-aid.

Homecoming was a fantastic night and the students of RB are hoping that the rest of the school year will be just as enjoyable.