As I look into their 10-year-old upturned faces, I see an openness that gives me hope that I am not too late with my message – in spite of all the meanness around us, we can learn to stand up for ourselves and others by being strong and being kind at the same time. I am a facilitator for the No Place For Hate program, developed by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a 104-year-old international human rights organization which has been at the forefront of the struggle for equal dignity for all people subject to bias and discrimination.
Hope is what we count on to make an impact.
You may have noticed the banners displayed by all five schools in the Village of Pinecrest. The giant yellow letters on a black background proclaim that the school is a place where hatred will not be tolerated, where kindness is the expectation, and where increasing numbers of students have become allies in the never-ending struggle to curb bullying and cruelty. Schools work hard to complete three requisite school-wide projects during the school year to earn their No Place For Hate banner, in addition to holding an anti-bias and diversity or anti-bullying workshop.
We are lucky in the Village of Pinecrest to have had the program in our schools for the last six years. Palmetto Elementary was the first school in the Village of Pinecrest to implement the No Place For Hate program, overseen by Palmetto Elementary’s long-time counselor, Julie Astuto. When Ms. Astuto brought the program to the attention of then Mayor Cindy Lerner, Ms. Lerner insisted that all the schools in Pinecrest do the program.
Although there was some initial reluctance to adding yet another extra-curricular program, the students who took the workshop reacted very favorably, evident in the student evaluations and the big hugs we facilitators got. The program designates the participants, chosen by teachers and counselors, as “allies,” teaching them peacemaking strategies and skills to stop bullying and meanness as soon as they see it happen. And see it they did – in the hallways, the bathroom, the P.E. fields, the cafeteria and even the classroom. The students were quick to identify trouble spots and were eager to learn how to stop bullying.
“At Palmetto Elementary, the No Place For Hate program is the cornerstone of teaching students about relationships,” says Ms. Astuto. No Place For Hate gives them the tools and the language for stopping bullying, helping targets, and accepting and celebrating differences. It is the perfect vehicle for teaching important social and emotional skills. I hear [the students] telling each other that we are a No Place for For Hate school and we need to show kindness to each other,” says Ms. Astuto.
Eric Torres, the principal of Palmetto Elementary, says “We’ve actually had parents come into our school because of the program we have. I think every school should have it. I think it will certainly benefit them in the future.”
As we have seen overt acts of bullying becoming less acceptable in the school cultures where the No Place For Hate program has taken root, bullying has shifted to cyberspace. Cyberbullying is especially challenging because you don’t always know who’s doing it and it invades the privacy and safety of the home. In a workshop this year at Palmetto Middle School, several students showed me posts on their cellphones containing offensive racial and anti-Semitic slurs posted by students at a local private school. ADL has created a workshop for middle and high schoolers that deals specifically with cyberbullying and how to confront it. Increasing numbers of schools are requesting it.
Most children learn kindness at home with their families. Unfortunately, there are children who don’t have the kind of home environment which counters the negative influences in our society that have produced an alarming callousness in youth and an indifference to community. That’s why programs like No Place For Hate are needed and schools would like to increase the number of students receiving the training on an ongoing basis.
This spring, I was very proud to present the No Place For Hate banners to all five Pinecrest schools where I have been doing the training these past six years. At an evening program at Palmetto Elementary, a young 4th grader gave a speech about how he had benefited from the No Place for Hate program. In his old school, he explained, he was called a name which deeply offended him. “I did not know how to deal with the problem,” he said, “so I was called that name the whole year. If I would have known the tricks I was taught by ‘No Place For Hate,” I would have dealt with that the day it happened.”
To date, 30 teachers and 600 students have been trained as No Place For Hate allies in Pinecrest schools, resulting in the No Place For Hate program impacting the lives of about 6,000 students every year. If you would like to see this program increase its reach, please contact the ADL Regional Office in Boca Raton at 561-988-2900 and ask to speak with the Education Department.
Kathy Hersh is a long-time Pinecrest resident who believes young people are our most important resource. Ms. Hersh has been involved with bullying prevention advocacy and programs for ten years. In addition to workshops for the ADL, she is currently engaged in teaching non-violence methodology and conflict resolution techniques to students and staff at the St. John’s Academy juvenile detention center in St. Augustine, Florida.
