Artifacts of hate help middle school students see result of bullying, racist behavior.
Slave shackles, a mangled piece of the World Trade Center's south tower, video of a contemporary Ku Klux Klan rally and some chunks of concrete from the Berlin Wall and Oklahoma City's Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. These items are part of a mobile hands-on exhibit known as the Traveling Trunk.
Holston Middle School 7th-graders squirmed or sat wide-eyed as presenter Gene Rosenberg displayed artifacts to recount stories of everything from the Holocaust to a recent cross-burning.
"What was weird about the video of the Klan was a little girl singing God's praises," said one student. "I don't think God would want them to do that, to hurt people."
Educators and citizens concerned about hate violence — both historic and recent — developed the tool kit, which features recognizable symbols of racial, ethnic and religious persecution and hatred. Members of the Hate Crimes Working Group, a partnership of Knoxville Project Change and the Knoxville division of the FBI, developed the teaching aid.
"Middle school is a time when bullying is a predominant kind of behavior," said Tim Wiegenstein, the guidance counselor who organized the sessions. "As educators, we have to socialize them to deal with each other in positive ways."
Wiegenstein said the next step at the school is bringing together peer mediators to discuss how young people can resolve their conflicts peacefully.
Rosenberg cautioned students about the recruitment efforts of gangs and hate groups that target minors. He also noted that bullying is a form of terrorism; taunts against children who are physically challenged or younger, smaller or less physically fit are not harmless. He also challenged each student to carry out acts of kindness — again and again — to understand how meaningful each person's actions are to others.
After the Traveling Trunk visit, Carlos, a 13-year-old Holston student, said he planned to "go around and try not to offend and make sure that when I do not understand something to ask about it instead of assuming."
Jeannine F. Hunter
Holston Middle School
Knoxville, Tenn.
For more information about Traveling Trunk, visit www.korrnet.org/knohate/trunk.html or call (865) 522-3004.
