A Day Without Hate

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Arvada West High School is one of many schools across the nation that participated in Day Without Hate (DWOH) on Friday, April 27. This is a day where, as self-explanatory as it is, hate is not welcome in any way shape or form. Anywhere the eye wanders, it sees hatred in some form, and DWOH is one way to stop this hatred from frequently occurring, even if it is just one day.

This day, occurring on the last Friday of every April, stands for unity and supports non-violence in schools, or anywhere for that matter. It is actually a student-led organization of students who are not willing to do nothing while shootings and violence are happening across the world. It is not a matter of protest, but rather just to show love instead of hate, which is the very cause of all the violence in the world.

Whose idea was this? The Huffington Post says that about six years ago, a few students who attended Standley Lake High School formed this day after hearing about the Virginia Tech shootings, which was one of the worst shootings in U.S. history. Their idea was to wear white and take the proper steps to end violence in schools. The  DWOH website states that by wearing white on this day, it shows commitment and trust. In fact, even this small effort won the PeaceJam Global Call to Action Award in 2013.

Ben Reed, the coordinator of the event at Stanley Lake, simply wanted to have just one day where people tried to be nice to each other, and to simply set aside all issues and be kind. Clearly, he strongly believed in a day free of hate not only for himself but also for the students. By organizing this event, it helped kids say no to fear and say yes to hope.  

Of course, that is only a teacher’s view of what this event is about. A student’s view is slightly different. Freshman Alana Martinez says about DWOH, “I’ve done it since kindergarten. I think it’s kind of useless and no one pays attention to it. But I also think that we need to be more involved in a Day Without Hate because students don’t really treat each other any differently on this day. I think that we should really promote a little bit more so we really have a day without hate.”

I also think a day without hate is not enough for a world full of hatred every second of every day. This day has gone unnoticed and because of that, it has lost its importance through the years. Like what Reed thinks, is it really that hard to take a few hours out of your week, just one lousy day, to ease up on the judgement and be kind? That’s all it is. It shouldn’t be some hard task to perform to simply keep those nasty thoughts you are thinking about that one girl or that one boy you just absolutely hate to yourself. Just let it go for one day and be involved in a Day Without Hate.