EDUCATION
Inspiring students
from 18 months
to 8th grade
Southeast Embraces
ADL’s No Place for Hate
By Benjamin Kweskin
I
quench
my thirst
for answers.
Welcome to
Springmont.
springmont.com
404.252.3910
n response to real and perceived rising levels of intolerance in public
and private schools, the Anti-Defamation League initiated the No Place
for Hate program nationally.
Community-driven and frequently student-led, the campaign seeks to
strengthen students’ resolve and provides tools and language to combat
intolerance while providing school
administrators, counselors, principals,
teachers and parents the means to handle all aspects of intolerance.
According to the ADL, many
schools are ill equipped to deal with
certain situations. As such, No Place
for Hate-affiliated programs can affect
positive results for a safer learning environment and empower students.
Among its programs, the campaign focuses on cyber bullying for
parents, general bullying, and different types of prejudice and stereotyping
and reaches students from kindergarten through high school.
experience EPSTEIN.
We’re way more than
you imagined.
JULY 31 ▪ 2015
We look forward to seeing you
on our campus. Schedule a tour at
THE EPSTEIN SCHOOL
www.EpsteinAtlanta.org/tour.
Solomon Schechter School of Atlanta
THE EPSTEIN SCHOOL
Solomon Schechter School of Atlanta
335 COLEWOOD WAY NW
SANDY SPRINGS, GA 30328-2956
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THE EPSTEIN SCHOOL
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THE EPSTEIN SCHOOL
The ADL says the rate of bullying
has steadily declined in the five years
of the program.
Erin Beacham, the education project director for the ADL’s Southeast
Region, said No Place for Hate assists
communities in general and is not limited to affecting school campuses.
The Southeast Region — Georgia,
Alabama, Tennessee and South Carolina — has 300 schools in No Place for
Hate; over half have completed all steps
to be certified as designated No Place
for Hate schools. Among the main steps
toward certification, schools must fill
out an assessment and coalition form
that includes every student’s affirmation of participation from that school.
Students must then sign a “resolution
of respect” and pledge to uphold standards of tolerance.
When bullying occurs, No Place
for Hate schools use the terms “target,”
“aggressor,” “bystander” and “ally,”
Beacham said. In response to such incidents, counselors and other school liaisons provide additional resources and
training. Beacham said students and
counselors tell aggressors that “this is a
No Place for Hate school and that language or action is unacceptable here.”
Among changes for the new school
year are plans to make online resources
more user-friendly, to send out monthly newsletters, and to expand outreach
to specific districts in the Southeast.
Word of mouth has been the main
way for schools and administrators to
learn about the campaign, but the ADL
does limited outreach to communities
and interested schools. More information is at atlanta.adl.org/npfh_/npfh.
All resources and materials come
through the ADL, and everyone associated with a school may participate.
The student-parent-administration-community coalition makes plans
to implement at least three activities
during the school year. These activities
must affect the majority of students.
In a few elementary schools, students
have linked arms with one another,
parents and community members in
an act of solidarity. In a high school,
students put on a poetry slam that encouraged tolerance and respect. Other
activities have included assemblies,
videos and plays.
The campaign encourages students to be involved. All efforts are coordinated through administrators with
younger students getting direction
from counselors and parents. ■