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  More than 20,000 students are registered and hundreds of thousands more will participate at middle schools, high schools and colleges from every state in the country in GLSEN’s National Day of Silence on Friday April 15th by taking some form of a vow of silence to raise awareness about anti-LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) name-calling, bullying and harassment.
This year marks the 15th anniversary of the first Day of Silence, held at the University of Virginia in 1996 by students who wanted to call attention to anti-LGBT bullying on campus. The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) became the official sponsor in 2001, and participation has grown to include students from more than 7,500 middle and high schools-10% of schools nationwide–last year and hundreds of colleges.
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  "Fitting In, Standing Out: Navigating the Social Challenges of High School to Get an Education" A new study out of the University of Texas at Austin has just released a study announcing that teens who “don’t fit in” are less likely to attend college. That made me somewhat of a “duh” conclusion, but what might be even more interesting that that two groups who are at particular risk are gay and overweight females. They found that girls who are obese are 78% less likely to attend college than non-obese girls, and those who are gay, are 50% less likely to attend.
“Kids who have social problems — often because they are overweight or gay are at greater risk of missing out on going to college simply because of the social problems they have and how it affects them emotionally,” says Robert Crosnoe, a Sociology Department professor and Population Research Center affiliate. “Not because of anything to do with intelligence or academic progress.”
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