• Enforce appropriate consequences for offenders (see also Enforce Appropriate Consequences for Offenders). Educate them about the meaning of the words or symbols they have used and the reasons those words and symbols hurt a group of people. An education session might be more effective outside of a disciplinary conference, perhaps with a counselor, teacher or trained peer mediator.
• Thwart year-end bias pranks. In many schools, there is a long-standing tradition of year-end pranks. To prevent defacement of school property and other hateful acts, set up extra monitoring of halls and school grounds during the final weeks of school. Enlist the support of student publication staff members to avert attempts by students to slip offensive material into yearbooks, literary magazines or graduation programs.
If offensive pictures or messages do appear in school publications, involve a diverse group of student leaders in decisions about what to do. Options include cutting out the offensive pages or covering them with special adhesive pages available from some yearbook companies.
"After hate graffiti was sprayed on the middle school wall, every student in the building wrote a positive statement about tolerance, diversity or respect. We made a collage on one cafeteria wall with all those statements. We wanted the message that we value differences out there. And if the individual responsible was in the student body, we wanted that person to know that he or she did not share the beliefs and values of our community."
Dr. Sandra Kolk, assistant superintendent, South Orangetown School District, N.Y.
Dr. Sandra Kolk, assistant superintendent, South Orangetown School District, N.Y.