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…

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…

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…

by: Mark Onofrio April 17, 2013 Echoes and Reflections staff traveled to a remote area of Alaska to deliver the program’s first professional development program in the state. The Echoes and Reflections program has now offered professional development in 47 US states and District of Columbia. The program has provided educational resources on the Holocaust to over 18,000 educators and community members. Deborah Batiste, Project Director for Echoes and Reflections, traveled from…

by: Mark Onofrio January 18, 2013 Over the past few years the media has covered many stories about cyberbullying and its detrimental effects on youth.  The research, and our own experiences, make it clear that cyberbullying hurts the youth targeted and creates a negative experience for those who witness the behavior.   We also know that youth are often targeted online because of their identity, including their weight, real or perceived sexual orientation, gender expression,…

by: Mark Onofrio January 11, 2013 Applications for smartphones and tablets have become an emerging segment of the online and entertainment industry.  As with videos, blogs and social networking platforms which came before, Apps are now being created that some consider funny, but which  actually cross the line from humorous to offensive.  Recent examples include two free apps on Google called “Make Me Asian” and “Make Me Indian,” that allow users to edit…

December 17, 2012 The recent news of the shootings of 20 young children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut has had a devastating impact on both youth and adults across the country. In the face of this senseless violence, many are at a loss to find the words to express the depth of their feelings. Despite our best efforts to protect children from the details of such incidents, they are often more aware than we imagine of what is happening in the world…

August 09, 2001 By Abraham H. Foxman This article appeared in the Washington Post on Tuesday August 7, 2001 and the International Herald-Tribune on Thursday August 9, 2001 The fall of the Soviet Empire had many positive results, most particularly ending fear of nuclear holocaust and the freeing of millions of people in Russia and the former Soviet republics and throughout Eastern Europe. Another positive outcome was the diminution of ideological politics throughout the world,…