I knew some kids that did this last year at my school. All it really is, is some kids who either are gay or support gay rights don't talk all day and they have a little necklace thing that explains what they are doing. It's really not a big deal and didn't cause any problems, at least not to my knowing. It's not a required thing, it's by choice.

I'm a member of my school's Gay Straight Alliance. It is a purely voluntary day where, if you choose, you don't say one word the whole day. The intended meaning is that people who aren't straight are often forced into silence for fear of being "cast out", and the silence makes it much more visible who is and who isn't.

Do they want my Son to remain silent all day?

Your son is certainly not required to remain silent. At my school, it is a voluntary activity, and I would expect it to be voluntary everywhere.

What exactly is this going to accomplish?

It's meant to make very blatant the silence (and sometimes, ignorance) that surrounds people who don't identify as straight.

At the very least if they are teaching tolerance shouldn't there actually be discussion rather than silence?

The Day of Silence is meant to raise awareness of just how many "silent" people there are in any given community. To be really done well, it must be followed by discussion of the "why" of the silence.

If it promotes straight out Homosexuality I have a problem with it.

A proper Day of Silence is really meant to only bring attention to the students who feel left out because of their sexual orientation. It's not meant to promote not fitting in and feeling terribly awkward whenever sex comes up as a discussion topic because one isn't like the other students. It is meant to make the awkwardness more visible.

Also, while I don't agree with the viewpoints displayed, I very much enjoyed the Anti links, especially their portrayal of it as wholly a homosexual activity. Straight students participate, bisexual students participate, homosexual students participate, and I know for a fact that asexual students also participate (I am one). From one point of view, it's a regular carnival of sexual orientations.

I'm open to field questions about this activity, if anyone likes.