November 10, 2020 How people are portrayed on television – matters. Increasingly diverse storylines, characters and content creators are widely seen as positive, but how is this trend affecting the prevalence of stereotypes in our culture? Is it increasing our ability to empathize and act? In a recent study, Define American and USC’s Norman Lear Center examined depictions of immigrants on television and the impact of those portrayals. The study examined depictions of 129 unique…

by: Scotland Nash August 26, 2020 Now more than ever, we need to build the capacity for empathy and compassion with our students and school communities.   The health crisis of COVID-19 highlighted again the racial disparities across the country. The racial violence embodied in the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade and George Floyd re-ignited our understanding of the systemic racism that plagues our nation.  We can’t deny the staggering statistics that…

Global anxiety about the outbreak of the coronavirus has led to the spread of much misinformation and scapegoating. In schools and communities in the U.S., we have seen incidents of bias, harassment, bullying, isolation, exclusion and racism against the Asian community and those who are perceived as being Chinese or Asian. What is the new coronavirus? According to the World Health Organization (WHO) coronaviruses are: "A large family of viruses found in both animals and…

January 22, 2020 On January 27th, the anniversary of the allied liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, we commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day in honor of the victims of Nazi persecution. This annual observance provides an opportunity for teachers to focus on the pivotal role of liberators in defeating the Nazis at the culmination of World War II, and as some of the first to bear witness to the horrors of the Holocaust. Here are some strategies and resources to guide you in…

November 25, 2019 It might be hard to believe, but the reality is white supremacists are trying to recruit your white teenage boys. Parents see white supremacists recruiting online Recently, parents are writing articles that express fear and deliver warnings based on what they’ve been through with their teenage sons. One anonymous parent described the circumstances that led their thirteen-year-old son to join the Alt-right. A misunderstanding about sexual harassment at school…

November is National Adoption Awareness Month—an annual reminder that it is important for all of us to raise our awareness about adoption and adoptees. There are approximately 5 million adoptees living in the United States today. Ensuring that your classroom and school are inclusive and respectful of adoptees and their unique experiences is crucial. Words Matter: Positive Adoption Language (PAL) and Inclusivity Educators know that words matter. You understand the harm that is…

September 15, 2019 Many have labeled today's young people apathetic and obsessed with their phones — a group not interested in news or improving their communities. Another common assumption is that college students and young adults don't vote and aren’t civically engaged. However, a recent survey dispels these misconceptions. The myth of youth apathy Common Sense Media reveals in a 2019 survey that teens are interested in news. In fact, 78% of thirteen to seventeen year-olds…

by: Libby Otto By mid-September, you’re busy with school, work and fall activities. Constitution Day, on September 17, may slip past you without a thought. So why should this year be any different?  Constitution Day is the anniversary of the day that the Founding Fathers signed the United States Constitution. As you reflect this year on how the current political climate and public policies impact millions of people, continue asking yourself: are you making a positive change to…

August 14, 2019 It happened again.  As the nation watched, children were separated from their families—this time in Mississippi.  ICE Raid at Mississippi Worksites It was the first day of school in several small towns in Mississippi. While children met their new teachers and went about their day, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents conducted the largest single-state workplace raid in history.  ICE officers targeted seven Mississippi chicken processing…

August 05, 2019 Updated August 2020 In August 2019, at a time when parents and teachers should have been be thinking about children’s new notebooks and back-to-school jitters, they instead had to contemplate how to talk with their children about mass shootings and anti-immigrant bias. On Saturday, August 3, 2019 a gunman opened fire in a shopping center in El Paso, Texas—a city that prides itself as one of the safest in the U.S. Some families were there to do their…

June 17, 2019 It’s that time of year when seniors play “pranks” as a final goodbye to their high school days. Intended to cause havoc, senior pranks may be planned for weeks or months leading up to graduation. These pranks are often harmless, fun and light-hearted and, in the best of cases, reflect a positive climate and school spirit. But some pranks have the opposite effect. They are offensive, harmful to individual students and negatively impact school climate. These…

May 06, 2019 By Jinnie Spiegler | ADL Director of Curriculum and Training This year, ADL had the opportunity to present three separate sessions at SXSW EDU -- a component of the big annual South by Southwest conference that focuses on teaching and learning. ADL’s sessions covered (1) discussing and framing current events in the classroom through an anti-bias lens, (2) acting as and developing better allies, and (3) the role art plays in promoting social justice themes in the…

April 18, 2019 As Cinco de Mayo festivities commence, it is important to stop and consider whether classroom observances and celebrations in general are inclusive and respectful and whether they do or do not promote stereotypical portrayals of groups of people—in this case, people who are Mexican and Mexican-American. Cinco De Mayo is a fun and festive holiday in the U.S. that it is often wrought with problematic choices made by people wanting to have a good time and celebrate…

February 25, 2019 Mya and Deanna Cook, 15, were both excellent students, but they had been kicked off school sports teams, banished from prom, and sentenced to hours of detention for refusing to change their hair. When these twin sisters were punished by their Boston-area high school for wearing braided hair extensions, ADL helped them change their school’s controversial hair and makeup policies, which unfairly targeted students of color. ADL’s New England office received a…

February 21, 2019 One would think that teaching the lessons of the Holocaust in schools would be a given in the United States. After all, it is an essential component in learning about world history, the rise of fascism, World War II, and genocide, all of which are already part of any respectable high school history curriculum. But recent incidents of students appropriating and abusing Holocaust imagery have served as a reminder and a wake-up call for the need to teach the universal…

February 15, 2019 Blackface has taken center stage in our public discourse. Again. Virginia is embroiled in a controversy based on admissions by Governor Ralph Northam and Attorney General Mark Herring to wearing blackface in the past. The list of celebrities and other public figures who publicly condone blackface is growing and there are others entering the spotlight. Just a few months ago, NBC host Megyn Kelly set off her own controversy when she defended blackface as a Halloween costume…

January 28, 2019 By Andrew Srulevitch, ADL Director of European Affairs For those obsessed with the ins and outs of European football, it has been a tough few months. Not necessarily because of anything the players have done on the pitch, but because of a series of ugly headlines and stories about racism from fans. And not just one or two isolated instances, but repeated reports of fans chanting anti-Semitic slurs from the stands, of peanuts thrown at black players, of fans and players…

January 15, 2019 Over the past several years, many people in schools have observed a surge in incidents of name-calling and bullying that target students because of an aspect of their identity. On a consistent basis, we hear about swastikas on school walls, hijabs being tugged at, outcries to “build the wall” and racial epithets being shouted in hallways and classrooms. Much of this perceived increase has been based on individual school reporting, general observations and gut…

December 21, 2018 64% of American households have a member that plays video games for three or more hours per week. And these gamers are not just kids. In 2017, the average age of a gamer was 31, and there were more gamers over 36 than between 18 – 35 or under 18. At ADL’s Center for Technology and Society (CTS) we know that video games can be a meaningful force for good in society. We think games can be incredible tools in helping to challenge bias and create respectful and…