ON OCTOBER 13, I pulled in for morning drop-off to the sight of police cars at my children’s Jewish day school. Now a routine sight, the increased security was in response to the threat of a “Global Day of Jihad” against Jews around the world. Despite some added nerves that day, I was grateful to have chosen a Jewish school for my kids. Like many Jews, I feared what the wake of the 10/7 atrocities would bring not an outpouring of support, but rather a tidal wave of antisemitic hate. The only place I could trust my children would be protected from that hate, at least emotionally, was within the walls of a Jewish day school.
Throughout the country we have seen antisemitic hate skyrocket since 10/7. And as this hate becomes frighteningly common in our lives, it has seeped into our children’s classrooms as well.
In 2023, the Anti-Defamation League tracked 8,873 antisemitic incidents across the country, a 140 percent increase from 2022. Of these incidents, 1,162 occurred in K-12 schools, a 135 percent increase.
Antisemitism was certainly on the rise before 10/7. Four out of the last five years broke all prior year records. But the events of 10/7 and the ensuing war have had an unmistakable impact, even in Massachusetts. ADL tracked 440 incidents in the Commonwealth in 2023, a 189 percent increase. Eighty-four incidents were in K-12, and 31 occurred after 10/7, a 138 percent increase for the same three-month period in 2022.
This is why ADL has two guides for school administrators (free and online) to help them respond and build a community resistant to antisemitism and all forms of hate. One is “Responding to Bias Incidents Guide” and “A Guide for Responding to School Sports-Related Bias Incidents.” Building this community is needed in Massachusetts because these growing numbers are not just statistics. They reflect actual children exposed to or targeted with vile antisemitic hate.
In December, the parents of a middle school student in Westport reported their child was repeatedly targeted by antisemitic bullying. Another student reported to ADL that she was persistently subjected to severe antisemitic bullying and death threats, online and in person, by multiple students. A student on the North Shore was harassed with hateful antisemitic taunts and was assaulted. Within the last few months of the school year, there were a frightening number of incidents targeting both students and teachers. A local middle school reported 15 separate incidents of swastika vandalism; multiple parents from another middle school reported their children were targeted with holocaust jokes, nazi salutes, and extremist imagery.
The harm to the victims of these incidents is considerable and compounds when not properly addressed by educators and administrators. But the damage is not limited to the victims who are targeted. Without strong countermeasures, bystanders are desensitized and offenders left more susceptible to prejudice in its many forms. The risk this poses for our children cannot be overstated. As they engage with social media, they will be vulnerable to the hate and extremism that run rampant on those platforms – platforms engineered to reinforce, rather than challenge, individual biases.
District superintendents and school administrators must be proactive and use the remaining weeks of summer to institute protocols for responding to hate. ADL’s guides set forth clear practical steps a school can take. These include (1) establishing clear reporting processes and incident response protocol to be followed; (2) creating a communication plan for promptly notifying the school community when an incident occurs, condemning the incident, and reaffirming the school’s values; and (3) creating “teachable moments” for the school community by addressing the hate specifically – the meaning of words and symbols, their historical context and impact – and giving students the tools to confront that hate whenever they encounter it.
In addition to developing robust incident response processes, districts and administrators must do the longer-term work of building a community inoculated against antisemitism. Districts must provide education on antisemitism so that teachers and administrative staff are prepared to identify and address it confidently in the moment. ADL has teaching resources, facilitated programs, and online courses available on these topics, and education staff who regularly work with schools to address these very issues.
All students deserve to learn in a safe environment. Districts must not ignore this problem and should use this summer to prepare to confront it. Without bold and decisive action, it will get worse this coming year, not better.
Sara A. Colb is the deputy direct of the Anti-Defamation League of New England.
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