All Americans have a stake in effective response to violent bigotry. Hate crimes merit a priority response because of their special impact on the victim and the victim's community. Failure to address this unique type of crime could cause an isolated incident to explode into widespread community tension. The damage done by hate crimes cannot be measured solely in terms of physical injury or dollars and cents. These crimes may effectively intimidate other members of the victim's community,…
364 Results
While bullying is still a problem in schools, the intersection of bias and bullying can be particularly harmful. Identity-based bullying is when a person is targeted based on an essential part of their identity (e.g., race, immigration status, sexual orientation, religion, or gender identity). It is common in schools and not only impacts the targeted person but everyone else around them that shares their identity. Identity-based bullying can leave all students feeling unsafe and fearful that…
Table Talk: Family Conversations about Current Events For Educators | For Parents, Families, and Caregivers Topic SummaryEvery day—from the schoolyard to the workplace—we hear biased, hurtful and offensive language, including slurs, epithets (defined below) and so-called “jokes.” We also see slurs written on walls, buildings, streets and in our social media feeds. Many people, especially those who have children in their lives, wonder what to do when they see and…
Use this collection of resources for educators and families to help teach about and celebrate Jewish American heritage in schools, communities and at home.
Table Talk: Family Conversations about Current Events Topic SummaryOn March 8, 2019 (International Women’s Day), the U.S. women’s soccer team filed a gender discrimination suit against the U.S. Soccer Federation, which governs soccer in the U.S. The soccer team’s complaint alleges pay inequities and inferior support and working conditions. In their statement released by the team, the twenty-eight players described “institutionalized gender discrimination” that…
For Educators In fostering inclusive, equitable and safe schools, we encourage educators to develop group guidelines for respect and safety in the classroom. These classroom guidelines can be created in a variety of ways and the list typically includes recommendations such as: share air time, actively listen, show empathy, respect confidentiality, participate fully, assume good will, be sensitive to feelings, and others. However, there is often a need to go further and frame guidelines around…
Increase your awareness of religious obligations and ethnic and cultural festivities that may affect students, colleagues and neighbors in your community.
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…
November is Native American Heritage Month, which was first declared by President George H.W. Bush in 1990. The month provides an opportunity to commemorate the rich and diverse cultures, traditions and histories and acknowledge the important contributions of Native American/Indigenous people. It is also an important time to educate the general public, as well as young people in schools, about the bias, discrimination and unique challenges faced by Native American/Indigenous people…
Table Talk: Family Conversations about Current Events For Parents, Families, and Caregivers Topic SummaryIt seems like we are seeing more and more news and social media stories about people experiencing bias as they go about their daily lives—riding the subway, shopping in a store, dining in a restaurant and hanging out with friends. Indeed, the surge of such stories makes it seem like racism, sexism, antisemitism and other forms of bias and discrimination are becoming more pervasive…
Table Talk: Family Conversations about Current Events For Parents, Families, and Caregivers Topic SummaryIn 1983, a social scientist named David Chambers published a research study on children’s drawings. The study gathered information from the late 1960s and 1970s in which teachers asked 5,000 children (in three different countries) to “draw a scientist.” One pattern appeared strongly: almost all of the scientist drawings depicted men. Through the study, Chambers was able to…
Unheard Voices: Stories of LGBT History For Educators ADL, GLSEN and StoryCorps collaborated to create Unheard Voices, an oral history and curriculum project that will help educators to integrate LGBT history, people and issues into their instructional programs.
David Barr has worked as an AIDs activist for over 25 years. At Storycorps, David talked about how the disease changed the gay community in New York City during the early 1980s, and what it was like to fight a disease that…
For Educators Educators sometimes aim to use simulations or role plays when teaching about historical atrocities in order to engage students more deeply, build empathy and teach the topic in an interactive way.
We frequently hear news stories about a classroom lesson that set out to try to help build empathy for the victims of the Holocaust by having students role play situations of either being “persecuted” or “privileged.” We also hear about teachers who have…
For parents, families and young people Topic SummaryIn recent years, there has been a lot of attention paid to the diversity of children’s books, shining a light on the lack of diversity and amplifying the need for more children’s and young adult literature that reflects our multicultural society. In 2014, an organization named We Need Diverse Books formed, following a regularly trending hashtag with the same name (#WeNeedDiverseBooks) that helped bring attention to the issue. We…
Talk to your family about issues of sexual harassment in the news in the past and currently.
What is anti-Semitism?
Anti-Semitism is a form of prejudice or discrimination directed toward Jews as individuals or as a group. Anti-Semitism is based on age-old stereotypes and myths that target Jews as a people, their religious practices and beliefs, or the Jewish State of Israel.
Words or actions related to Israel are anti-Semitic when they blame all Jews for the actions of the state, single out Israel in denying the country’s right to exist as a Jewish state and an…
In the 1930s, the dean of Yale University’s medical school — who was Jewish himself — reportedly advised his admissions team, “Never admit more than five Jews, take only two Italian Catholics, and take no blacks at all.”
The American college campus has come a long way in the past century. Colleges are more diverse, and there are greater efforts to create inclusive environments whereby all students feel comfortable on campus. But that does not mean you…
What is the source of our free speech rights? Free speech rights emanate from the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution[1] and from state constitutions. The U.S. Constitution limits the government’s ability to regulate speech based on content and it applies to all public colleges and universities. It serves as a floor, not a ceiling. State constitutions may grant more robust free speech rights than the U.S. Constitution, but never fewer. Is there a distinction between private and…
For Educators | For Parents, Families, and Caregivers As part of our ongoing efforts to provide current, relevant and quality educational resources in various formats, ADL offers a free podcast series that you can listen to at your convenience. Each podcast offers a rich and inspiring conversation with a specialist in the field or children's book author. The podcasts assist educators in building inclusive and respectful classrooms and provide timely and important information on curricula…
For Educators | For Parents, Families, and Caregivers Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the High Holidays, are celebrated by Jewish people all over the world. The High Holidays fall on different days each year. For the specific dates each year, check our Calendar of Observances. These and other Jewish holidays fall on different days in our calendar because they follow the Jewish calendar, which has a different number of days than our calendar. The Jewish calendar is a Soli-lunar calendar. …