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…
Brandeis Center/ADL File Federal Complaint Against Berkeley K-12 Schools For "Severe and Persistent" Antisemitic Bullying
Press Release
Washington, D.C., Feb. 28, 2024: The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law and ADL (the Anti-Defamation League) today filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights against the Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) for failing to take action to end nonstop bullying and harassment of Jewish students by peers and teachers since Oct. 7. According to the complaint, Berkeley administrators have ignored parent reports and…
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.
When ‘Just Joking’ Is No Joke: How to Respond When Students’ ‘Jokes’ are Biased or Offensive
Tools and Strategies
There are many benefits of 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…
On February 17 and 18, 2023, approximately 15 individuals associated with the virulently antisemitic Goyim Defense League (GDL) distributed propaganda and protested across Florida. Many of the participants traveled from out of state, including individuals from Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
GDL is a network of rabidly antisemitic provocateurs led by Jon Minadeo who recently relocated to Florida from California. GDL…
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.
How A Texas Teen Turned Bias and Body-Shaming into Advocacy and Action
Article
Olivia Julianna (who uses only her first and middle name publicly to protect her privacy) has been an activist for several years, advocating voting rights and reproductive-health care. Like many in her generation, she found the political side of TikTok where young people post about important issues facing them. Olivia is involved with Gen-Z for Change, a nonprofit organization leveraging social media to promote civil discourse and political action on a variety of topics including…
Letter to Twitter regarding Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s chronic violations of Twitter’s terms
Letter
Jonathan Greenblatt
CEO and National Director
July 27, 2022
Dear Mr. Agrawal,
I am once again reaching out regarding Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s chronic violations of Twitter’s terms of service on his accounts of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. We ask that you de-platform him for his continued use of Twitter to promote antisemitism, hate, violence and Holocaust denial.
As I wrote in January 2021 to then Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, Khamenei…
Anne Frank’s Betrayal and the Sensationalizing of History
Article
The author and publishers of a new book on Anne Frank's plight have turned one of the few at least partially upbeat stories of Jewish life and thought during the Holocaust into one of Jewish perfidy and treachery. The timing couldn’t be worse: antisemitism is flourishing once again, and Holocaust memory is diminishing.