Parents charge school in SP after case of anti-Semitism – 03/11/2024 – Education

Parents of students at Beacon School, in Alto de Pinheiros, in the west of São Paulo, are putting pressure on the school management to take stronger action against students who intimidated a classmate with references to Nazism.

Last week, the school suspended six 15-year-old students who allegedly offended a classmate who is from a Jewish family. The students had been drawing swastikas in the boy’s notebooks for at least two weeks and giving the Nazi salute when he entered class. They also reproduced the anthem of the Hitler Youth, a group of young people from Adolf Hitler’s party in Germany.

In a statement, the school management said that “as soon as it became aware of the episode of anti-Semitism” it immediately adopted a series of measures, including “removing the attacking students and welcoming the affected family”. A multidisciplinary inquiry was also opened to investigate the case.

“Beacon School notes that it vehemently repudiates any and all manifestations of hatred and highlights its firm position against any form of discrimination, both inside and outside the school environment, whether related to nationality, ethnicity, religion, race, gender or any other other aspects”, states the college, in a note.

“The students involved are away and Beacon has initiated an internal investigation in order to carefully investigate the facts, either to apply sanctions in the specific case, or to reinforce and prevent any future episode of a discriminatory nature”, states the school.

The boy’s parents contacted the school last Wednesday (7) to report the situation. The management decided to suspend the six aggressor students for two days — the measure, however, does not prevent them from attending school, just from not attending classes that day.

The boy entered Beacon School this year, coming from a Jewish school. In a message to other parents at the school, the student’s mother expressed concern about the violence suffered by her son and also about the measures adopted by the management in relation to the other boys.

“They suspended the boys for two days, and one of the days they were all in a room at school together. Unacceptable! My son is so shaken that he doesn’t want to go to school anymore. It’s endlessly sad that this is happening these days” , says the message.

“He’ll probably go back to his old school, but if you need anything, count on me. We have to educate and inform these people about everything that happened in the world and with our people so that this doesn’t continue to happen. I also learned that several Jewish children had already received these provocations, but they never spoke, for fear of not ‘belonging’ to the group”, says the text sent to the parents.

After the case became public, a group of parents organized to ask for tougher action to curb new cases of anti-Semitism, as well as other types of discrimination.

“Our school needs to take a stronger stance against any type of discrimination and bullying. The recent case of anti-Semitism is not just a child’s prank gone wrong, but a deep-rooted problem that affects safety and well-being of our students”, says an open letter from parents, which already has more than 350 signatures.

A group of parents also decided to demonstrate this Monday (11). They wore white clothes to take their children to school as a way of showing their discontent.

In a statement, Beacon School said it will expand its work with a focus on action against any discriminatory action, including involving families.

“Beacon reiterates its commitment to act quickly in the face of any discriminatory situation, investigating the facts in detail and firmly, applying the appropriate sanctions, always encouraging reflection to stimulate learning with the aim of forming ethical citizens, aware and committed to the construction of a more peaceful and egalitarian society”, he said in a statement.

For parents, it is necessary to show that this type of discrimination is a crime. They remember, for example, the case of the Porto Seguro school in Valinhos (85 km from SP).

In November 2022, the school decided to expel eight students who created a WhatsApp group entitled “Fundação Anti Petismo”, where they shared racist, homophobic, Nazi and fatphobic messages.