by: Oren Segal July 29, 2014 If you have been reviewing any number of parenting or education blogs lately, you’ll see headlines proclaiming the menace and dangers of technology. Technology, and more specifically, social media and mobile apps are often treated like “monsters” to guard against and the creators of all matter of social ills. Even if technology is scary and daunting to some adults, for youth it is a necessary and positive part of life. In…
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July 22, 2014 The Honorable Ban Ki-Moon Secretary General United Nations
Dear Mr. Secretary General,
We were surprised by the uncharacteristically harsh and one-sided tenor and content of the remarks you made to the press during your visit to Doha on Sunday.
One cannot fail to feel pain and anguish one feels for the suffering befalling the people of Gaza. Yet, at a time when morally responsible leaders are asking "What kind of human being indiscriminately fires thousands of…
July 18, 2014 Her Excellency Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner
President of the Argentine Republic
Balcarce 50, CP 1064
Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires
Argentina
Dear Madam President:
On the twentieth anniversary of the July 18, 1994 terrorist bombing of the AMIA-DAIA building in Buenos Aires, we once again recall the 85 innocent Argentinian victims who died tragically and the hundreds who were wounded on that day.
Madam President, we appreciate your…
July 18, 2014 Mr. Leonardo Jmelnitzky
President
Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA)
Pasteur 633 (C1028 AMM)
Buenos Aires
Argentina
Dear Mr. Jmelnitzky:
As the twentieth anniversary of the terrorist attack on the Jewish community's AMIA-DAIA building in Buenos Aires, Argentina approaches, we once again express our solidarity with the Argentinean Jewish community and remember the eighty-five innocent victims who lost their lives and the hundreds of others…
Teach and commemorate the culture, traditions and history of Asian American and Pacific Islander people in the United States in school, communities and at home.
by: Mark Onofrio March 17, 2014 A teacher raises his hand in A World of Difference® Institute training and says, "I like to kid around with my students." He says, "I like to have fun in my class so they are more likely to come to me when they need help."
He calls one student his “favorite Mexican,” another student “Dopey” and the only African-American student “MLK” (short for Martin Luther King Jr.) This well-intentioned…
Use these resources to honor women around the world, explore women’s achievements and struggles throughout history, and acknowledge women’s contributions to our society.
by: Oren Segal February 26, 2014
It happened again. College students dressed up like members of a “culture” for a stereotyped theme party.
In the most recent example, sorority students at Columbia University were photographed wearing sombreros, thick mustaches, ponchos and holding maracas. They also portrayed other nationalities. What’s worse is that these types of parties are not anomalies, but common occurrences on college campuses.
African-themed…
February 21, 2014 Daniel W. Jones, M.D. Chancellor The University of Mississippi Dear Chancellor Jones:
We are writing to express our deep concern about the recent incident at the University of Mississippi in which two unidentified men placed a noose around the neck of the statue of James Meredith, the school’s first black student. There have reportedly been other recent incidences of troubling acts of homophobia and racism.
College is a unique and special time in a young person…
For Educators In many of ADL’s lesson plans and activities, students are challenged to explore and articulate their personal feelings about sensitive topics including segregation, discrimination, and the value of diverse school communities. Talking about themes related to diversity requires that students demonstrate maturity and compassion for others. In conjunction with social justice curricula, it is therefore recommended that teachers use service learning, conflict resolution,…
by: Mark Onofrio February 07, 2014 Criticism of immigrant policy is not an excuse to undermine the humanity of others with the kind of vitriol that dominated the internet, especially Twitter, after the Atlanta-based Coca Cola Company aired a commercial with “America the Beautiful,” sung in different languages and featuring a diversity of people during the Super Bowl.
The term immigrant is a descriptor, not a slur. However, it is often used in a pejorative way. For those who are…
by: Mark Onofrio January 31, 2014 The Super Bowl is arguably one of the biggest days in American sports, and with good reason. In addition to being a competition of the best two football teams in the most popular sport in America, this year it is also the kind of celebration not often associated with professional sports.
Derrick Coleman, a running back for the Seattle Seahawks, is the only legally deaf athlete in professional football history to play offense. In early January 2014, Coleman…
by: Mark Onofrio January 24, 2014 We recently had a reminder of the enduring power of stereotypes in American when an interview by Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman prompted a slew of racist remarks on Twitter and a mainstream media commentator referred to him as a “thug” and an “ape.”
While perhaps unintentional on the part of media commentators, the…
January 21, 2014
The phrase "that’s so gay" has persisted as a way for students to describe things they do not like, find annoying or generally want to put down, while it is promising that fewer students are hearing homophobic slurs than in previous years.
The phrase is used so commonly that many students no longer recognize it as homophobic because it is “what everyone says.” When educators and other adults intervene, common student responses include “I was just…
by: Mark Onofrio January 13, 2014 Five Tips for Working with Children, Tweens and Teens
As we honor Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy through the National Day of Service, we encourage teachers, parents and families to provide community service opportunities for children and youth. Below are tips to help make the experience meaningful.
“Everybody can be great...because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to…
by: Mark Onofrio January 07, 2014 Youth are the real experts on what is happening in bullying on school campuses, and yet their voices, perspectives and leadership are rarely integrated into bullying prevention programs.
“Just ask the kids” is the tagline for a new book highlighting research from the Youth Voice Project, the first large-scale research project on bullying and peer mistreatment that did exactly that—ask the kids (more than 13,000 teens in 31 schools). …
by: Mark Onofrio December 06, 2013
Many educators want to incorporate the passing of significant figures into their classroom discussion. ADL’s Education Division provides resources to educators about contemporary issues and current event topics to help make classroom learning more dynamic forums for critical thinking.
In celebration and memory of the life of Nelson Mandela, this special edition of The Current Events Classroom provides students the opportunity to learn…
November 18, 2013 CHANGING HEARTS AND MINDS A dynamic young leader in the immigration reform movement, Lorella Praeli first met ADL after she was bullied in school.
My first exposure to ADL was just after graduating from middle school in Connecticut. I’d gone through a really ugly experience with cyberbullying at a time when no one knew what to do about it, plus I had my own self-doubts about being a Latina with a disability. The training for ADL’s Names Can Really Hurt Us program…
For Law Enforcement
Read the full, comprehensive report: Profile: Omar Hammami
Omar Hammami, an American citizen from Alabama who once served as primary recruiter for Al Shabaab, the Somali-based terrorist organization affiliated with Al Qaeda, was killed September 13, 2013 at age 29 by members of Al Shabaab.
Between 2007 and 2011, he was a public face and voice of Al Shabaab and a critical part of the terrorist organization's effort to recruit English-speakers. Hammami was…
Ben White, the author of Israeli Apartheid: A Beginner’s Guide and co-author of Palestinians in Israel: Segregation, Discrimination and Democracy, is an anti-Israel speaker who regularly delivers presentations on American college campuses.
A graduate of Cambridge University in the UK, White is a supporter of a one-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict – which is predicated on the dismantlement of Israel as a Jewish state – and an advocate for the Boycott,…