Does anybody know the incident recently happened in Sidwell?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:brains aren't fully developed until 25-27...seriously impulsive behavior. I'm sure the kid is mortified right now. An amnesty should be declared to turn him/herself in and then a look to teachable moments in the classroom - not just about bigoted language (if it was? I haven't seen what exactly it was) but also the privileges and responsibilities of media and tech usage. But overall, this is not the biggest deal - it's just massively amplified by the echoes of the coverage. - not a Sidwell parent

I have a 9 and 12 year old. We are white and not Jewish. Both of my children know about hate language and know that they may NEVER use it. If they did anything like this I would expect the school to take strong and decisive action and, while I would be devastated for my child, I would support the school. This is not about an impulse. That language and thought process should not be a joke. This is not impulsivity. This is hate.

This is in reference to the swastikas. Not the s.i. comment.

[Anonymous]

Wishy washy Admin. On Friday the MS Head gave a long speech about tolerance and that there would be “severe consequences” for hateful and racist behavior. Consequences were unspecified.

Never mind that the consequences for repeat offenders using the N-word in MS has been half day in school suspensions. Not severe enough to be a meaningful consequence for repeat offenders and sends the wrong signal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:brains aren't fully developed until 25-27...seriously impulsive behavior. I'm sure the kid is mortified right now. An amnesty should be declared to turn him/herself in and then a look to teachable moments in the classroom - not just about bigoted language (if it was? I haven't seen what exactly it was) but also the privileges and responsibilities of media and tech usage. But overall, this is not the biggest deal - it's just massively amplified by the echoes of the coverage. - not a Sidwell parent

I have a 9 and 12 year old. We are white and not Jewish. Both of my children know about hate language and know that they may NEVER use it. If they did anything like this I would expect the school to take strong and decisive action and, while I would be devastated for my child, I would support the school. This is not about an impulse. That language and thought process should not be a joke. This is not impulsivity. This is hate.

A lot of 9 and 12 year olds do things they ay NEVER do. I hope you are prepared for that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wishy washy Admin. On Friday the MS Head gave a long speech about tolerance and that there would be “severe consequences” for hateful and racist behavior. Consequences were unspecified.

Never mind that the consequences for repeat offenders using the N-word in MS has been half day in school suspensions. Not severe enough to be a meaningful consequence for repeat offenders and sends the wrong signal.

Not sure what you’d want different. Every context is different and so different punishment makes sense depending on context. My DC was there for one MS n-word event and in the context it occurred, the suspension (not sure exactly how long) made sense. In another context, the same language might mean expulsion. I can imagine contexts (eg, quoting lyrics) where a stern discussion but no suspension might make sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:brains aren't fully developed until 25-27...seriously impulsive behavior. I'm sure the kid is mortified right now. An amnesty should be declared to turn him/herself in and then a look to teachable moments in the classroom - not just about bigoted language (if it was? I haven't seen what exactly it was) but also the privileges and responsibilities of media and tech usage. But overall, this is not the biggest deal - it's just massively amplified by the echoes of the coverage. - not a Sidwell parent

I have a 9 and 12 year old. We are white and not Jewish. Both of my children know about hate language and know that they may NEVER use it. If they did anything like this I would expect the school to take strong and decisive action and, while I would be devastated for my child, I would support the school. This is not about an impulse. That language and thought process should not be a joke. This is not impulsivity. This is hate.

But why would you have to TELL your kids not to use hate language and threaten them with consequences?
Shouldn’t that just be natural?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:brains aren't fully developed until 25-27...seriously impulsive behavior. I'm sure the kid is mortified right now. An amnesty should be declared to turn him/herself in and then a look to teachable moments in the classroom - not just about bigoted language (if it was? I haven't seen what exactly it was) but also the privileges and responsibilities of media and tech usage. But overall, this is not the biggest deal - it's just massively amplified by the echoes of the coverage. - not a Sidwell parent

I have a 9 and 12 year old. We are white and not Jewish. Both of my children know about hate language and know that they may NEVER use it. If they did anything like this I would expect the school to take strong and decisive action and, while I would be devastated for my child, I would support the school. This is not about an impulse. That language and thought process should not be a joke. This is not impulsivity. This is hate.

But why would you have to TELL your kids not to use hate language and threaten them with consequences?
Shouldn’t that just be natural?

NP. I doubt a 9 and 12 year old, who likely haven't even taken World History in school yet, are going to have the same appreciation for these things as you, me and the PP with our fully developed adult brains and decades of exposure to the implications of this symbol.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:brains aren't fully developed until 25-27...seriously impulsive behavior. I'm sure the kid is mortified right now. An amnesty should be declared to turn him/herself in and then a look to teachable moments in the classroom - not just about bigoted language (if it was? I haven't seen what exactly it was) but also the privileges and responsibilities of media and tech usage. But overall, this is not the biggest deal - it's just massively amplified by the echoes of the coverage. - not a Sidwell parent

I have a 9 and 12 year old. We are white and not Jewish. Both of my children know about hate language and know that they may NEVER use it. If they did anything like this I would expect the school to take strong and decisive action and, while I would be devastated for my child, I would support the school. This is not about an impulse. That language and thought process should not be a joke. This is not impulsivity. This is hate.

But why would you have to TELL your kids not to use hate language and threaten them with consequences?
Shouldn’t that just be natural?

No. It needs to be taught. I'm a child therapist. Spell out your values and expectations at home, parents. Kids are watching and listening and need to be told. Make sure you're not making racist comments yourselves, even borderline ones, like generalizations about groups of people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:brains aren't fully developed until 25-27...seriously impulsive behavior. I'm sure the kid is mortified right now. An amnesty should be declared to turn him/herself in and then a look to teachable moments in the classroom - not just about bigoted language (if it was? I haven't seen what exactly it was) but also the privileges and responsibilities of media and tech usage. But overall, this is not the biggest deal - it's just massively amplified by the echoes of the coverage. - not a Sidwell parent

I have a 9 and 12 year old. We are white and not Jewish. Both of my children know about hate language and know that they may NEVER use it. If they did anything like this I would expect the school to take strong and decisive action and, while I would be devastated for my child, I would support the school. This is not about an impulse. That language and thought process should not be a joke. This is not impulsivity. This is hate.

But why would you have to TELL your kids not to use hate language and threaten them with consequences?
Shouldn’t that just be natural?

No. It needs to be taught. I'm a child therapist. Spell out your values and expectations at home, parents. Kids are watching and listening and need to be told. Make sure you're not making racist comments yourselves, even borderline ones, like generalizations about groups of people.

Let’s be clear, hate speech is learned at home and then reinforced by elements in the community. It’s a little naive to be telling people on this forum to model tolerance. Those who are compassionate already do it and those who don’t, well they troll DCUM...

[Anonymous]

This is one kid. Sidwell is a progressive and diverse school. They didn’t encourage or condone this. Kids must have an idea of who may be capable of this.

[Anonymous]

No. It needs to be taught. I'm a child therapist. Spell out your values and expectations at home, parents. Kids are watching and listening and need to be told. Make sure you're not making racist comments yourselves, even borderline ones, like generalizations about groups of people.


Let’s be clear, hate speech is learned at home and then reinforced by elements in the community. It’s a little naive to be telling people on this forum to model tolerance. Those who are compassionate already do it and those who don’t, well they troll DCUM...

Not necessarily. And, you cannot possibly cover every form of "hate speech" at home.

For example: I have a white friend with a grandson who is half AA. Her (who loves his nephew very much) was in fifth grade and used the "n" word at school. The teacher called her and, of course, she was extremely upset. Problem is, he learned it from a rap song and was hanging out with AA friends who were using it. He just did not know what it signified. He knows now.

The Nazi swastika is particularly egregious to me--but, I'm not sure that the significance is being taught to kids as much as you think it is. It could just be a gap in their education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Let’s be clear, hate speech is learned at home and then reinforced by elements in the community. It’s a little naive to be telling people on this forum to model tolerance. Those who are compassionate already do it and those who don’t, well they troll DCUM...

Modeling tolerance is not the same as and does not replace having explicit, historically informed conversations with your children. And don't count on schools to do it for you. Apparently 22% of millenials have not heard of the Holocaust or are not sure they've heard of it: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2018/04/12/two-thirds-of-millennials-dont-know-what-auschwitz-is-according-to-study-of-fading-holocaust-knowledge/?utm_term=.4a001e15657c

[Anonymous]

Creating a username is not an impulsive act. Nazi symbols and language should be automatic expulsion for US because SFS is a Quaker school. Kids that age are smart enough to know Nazism is the opposite of Quaker values and actions. If they think it's funny, they need to leave and grow up somewhere else.

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/quakers

The US Holocaust Museum and Memorial is open 24-7 online. You don't need to wait to make a trip.

PS: Kids ALWAYS know.

[Anonymous]

It's Kahoot. Some people love trying to trick the username screens, create memes of offensive jokes, etc. At a minimum this kind of stuff is violation of technology use policies.

Whoever ran the Kahoot should have been aware of this.

https://support.kahoot.com/hc/en-us/articles/115002201267-How-to-handle-inappropriate-nicknames

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's Kahoot. Some people love trying to trick the username screens, create memes of offensive jokes, etc. At a minimum this kind of stuff is violation of technology use policies.

Whoever ran the Kahoot should have been aware of this.

https://support.kahoot.com/hc/en-us/articles/115002201267-How-to-handle-inappropriate-nicknames

It was run by the students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wishy washy Admin. On Friday the MS Head gave a long speech about tolerance and that there would be “severe consequences” for hateful and racist behavior. Consequences were unspecified.

Never mind that the consequences for repeat offenders using the N-word in MS has been half day in school suspensions. Not severe enough to be a meaningful consequence for repeat offenders and sends the wrong signal.

The N word was used and the consequence was half day in school suspension? I found this play only outrageous. My DC has been admited and now I have serious second thoughts. Is this an old incident?