Identity-Based Bullying: Listening to Young People
Tools and Strategies
Table Talk: Family Conversations about Current EventsAll young people should be able to feel safe, included and respected in their classrooms and schools. Unfortunately, many do not. A recent study of high school students found that nearly four in ten students experienced identity-based bullying or bullying related to an aspect of their identity such as race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or physical appearance. How can we listen and learn from young people about…
Table Talk: Family Conversations about Current EventsYou may have heard about “swatting” because it's been in the news recently. What exactly is swatting? Why do people do it? Because young people are exposed to swatting online, on both mainstream websites and the “dark web” (i.e., hidden websites) and because some swatting incidents begin in online gaming or other digital platforms, it is an important topic to discuss with young people. Swatting is &ldquo…
Teach students what biased language is and help them reflect on the reasons why people use it and how they can address and challenge biased words and language.
This parent/family discussion guide helps families engage in a discussion about the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, its aftermath and how families can help.
When ‘Just Joking’ Is No Joke: How to Respond When Students’ ‘Jokes’ are Biased or Offensive
Tools and Strategies
There are many benefits to humor. A good joke can ease tension in a stressful situation. Humor can connect people and bring them together. Jokes can bring levity to a situation that begs for lightheartedness. Being funny can signal to others who you are. Humor can even open a conversation that previously felt closed or off-limits. However, jokes and humor, when they target social identity groups, can do the opposite. They can make people feel unsafe, disconnected, excluded and…
The Pyramid of Hate illustrates the prevalence of bias, hate and oppression in our society. It is organized in escalating levels of attitudes and behavior that grow in complexity from bottom to top. Like a pyramid, the upper levels are supported by the lower levels; unlike a pyramid, the levels are not built consecutively or to demonstrate a ranking of each level. Bias at each level reflects a system of oppression that negatively impacts individuals, institutions and society…
Teach students about what gossip and rumors are and the impact they have on others, especially those identity groups which may be more vulnerable to and marginalized by rumors and gossip.
Echoes & Reflections: Teaching the HolocaustGRADE LEVEL: Middle School, High School
COMMON CORE STANDARDS: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening, Language The lessons in this unit increase students’ understanding of Jewish people and awareness that antisemitism did not end after the Holocaust, and provide them with opportunities to learn about the persistence of antisemitism in its contemporary forms. Students investigate the ways in which old ideas about Jews and Judaism have…
The Pyramid of Hate illustrates the prevalence of bias, hate and oppression in our society. It is organized in escalating levels of attitudes and behavior that grow in complexity from bottom to top. Like a pyramid, the upper levels are supported by the lower levels; unlike a pyramid, the levels are not built consecutively or to demonstrate a ranking of each level. Bias at each level reflects a system of oppression that negatively impacts individuals, institutions and society…
GRADE LEVEL: High School
COMMON CORE STANDARDS: Reading, Writing, Language We see symbols every day in all aspects of our lives. Symbols are used to convey ideas, qualities, emotions, material objects/products, opinions and beliefs. Unfortunately, symbols are also used to convey hate and bias. Lately, we have seen a lot of hate symbol graffiti in public spaces and specifically the swastika, which in most circumstances is understood as an expression of antisemitism. There has reportedly…
The Civil Rights Movement of the 1950’s and 1960’s came about out of the need and desire for equality and freedom for African Americans and other people of color. Nearly one hundred years after slavery was abolished, there was widespread segregation, discrimination, disenfranchisement and racially motivated violence that permeated all personal and structural aspects of life for black people. “Jim Crow” laws at the local and state levels barred African Americans from…