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…

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.

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.&nbsp…

There are 1.8 billion Muslim people worldwide and an estimated 3.45 million Muslims living in the United States. Islam is currently the second largest religion in the world next to Christianity. Despite the fact that there are so many Muslims in the world, in many places there is a lack of understanding about Muslim people and Islam. In addition, the increase in anti-Muslim rhetoric and the unfortunate conflation of terrorism with Muslim people contributes to biased attitudes and…

Table Talk: Family Conversations About Current EventsBullying is a phrase we hear regularly and often: in the media, on TV shows and movies, in schools and in conversations among both adults and children. Parents, students and schools are rightfully worried about bullying. It is a problem and cause for concern but may not be as widespread as many think because the term “bullying” is often used as an umbrella to describe all kinds of mean behavior—from a rude comment to a…