Anonymous wrote:I'm struggling with how to advise my young teen on how to respond to casual anti-semitic "jokes" targeted at him at school by a peer. My teen has rightfully identified the jokes as mean-spirited and anti-semitic (not that "affectionate" anti-semitism is okay either of course). But I know he would feel differently if it were coming from a friend testing testing boundaries, and would feel comfortable confronting it head on in that case.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:From friends? Enemies? Frenemies? Random s?
OP here - it's a frenemy for sure. it happened again today, and he said he laughed in response bc everyone else was laughing. Ugh.
Anonymous wrote:What grade is this?
If it were my kid, I would encourage them to try asking blunt questions while maintaining a puzzled but unruffled expression and direct eye contact.
Joke about “greedy” stereotype: “You are saying all Jews are greedy? Do you dislike Jews?”
Joke about noses or bagels or whatever: “why are you so interested in me being jewish? Are you keeping track of all the Jews?”
Joke about owning the media: “Are you an antisemite? Do you believe other Q-Anon theories or just the ones about Jews?”
Basically, don’t let it get to you (at least visibly), but respond in a way that shows
1) I see what you are doing
2) I am going to make it obvious to others what you are doing.
People like this are counting on the victim clocking everything they say but bystanders not picking up on it. If they are hanging out at the lunch table and over 30 minutes, there are 4 awkward moments where Larlo makes a reference to your kid being Jewish or jokes about Jews in general, Larlo is banking on the other kids not noticing all 4 jokes, but your kid noticing and feeling awkward and excluded. Your kid just needs to flag it so that the whole group notices it happening, then the whole group will see Larlo as an uncomfortable person to be around because they will experience the awkwardness too.
He can also talk to one or two friends who are around when it happens and let them know his strategy and that they can support him by just being like “Yeah, Larlo, that’s some Nazi sh— right there!” “Why are you obsessed with Jews, Larlo?” Or just rolling their eyes at Larlo.
The kid will probably fall back on the “it’s just a joke.” Your kid can do the “Explain the joke to me” response, or ask Larlo to tell the “joke” again so everyone can hear it. Or just say “Oh, I didn’t realize bigotry was funny.”
Anonymous wrote:"Are you an antisemite?"
Call it what it is and see how the friend reacts. If your son is comfortable saying so, encourage him to say to the other boy that he doesn't appreciate his comments.
If that doesn't work, report it. He shouldn't have to fight a battle to get the other kid to behave better.
Anonymous wrote:From friends? Enemies? Frenemies? Random s?