Last Friday, April 17th, was the national Day of Silence, an event that calls attention to anti-LGBT bullying. Students across the country vowed to take some form of silence to stop effects bullying. This day of recognition has grown from its humble beginnings to over 8,000 participating schools.

Several years ago, Academy’s Mission Statement was altered to make its stance on the acceptance of sexual orientation clear: “We value diversity in all of its dimensions including but not limited to gender, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, physical abilities, family composition and socioeconomic status.” While our mission statement says to not discriminate based on sexual orientation and physical ability, too much of the student body still uses offensive slang, “retarded,” “gay,” and “ghetto,” for example.

Even though the people who use these terms do not mean to offend others, it is ignorant to be unaware of these consequences. “Retarded” used to be a normal term for people with mental differences. Now the word has evolved into an insult.

Part of this problem can be blamed on today’s mainstream music, much of which includes cursing and labeling women with derogatory terms. On popular streaming sites such as iTunes and Spotify, most of the explicit rap songs are not censored. While rap music is notorious for being violent, it is also equally homophobic.

If someone was caught using homophobic or racist terms in public, the school would come down on them. But if we listen to explicit music with these unsettling themes in private, it creates a double standard. Maybe we need a different day of silence for not using these derogatory words and truly welcome everyone into all aspects of society.