Of the many events in the news that give us pause, the shooting yesterday within our National Holocaust Museum created an instant symbol of the senseless hatred that still exists like insidious weeds among us. It is even more striking that it comes just a week after our first African American president visited the site of the Buchenwald concentration camp. As parents (assuming news like this permeates fixed viewing of NICK or DisneyChannel), we can then feel an additional dilemma over how to discuss it in some constructive way with our children.
This therefore seemed a good time to share with (or remind) you of the educational organization Facing History and Ourselves…
In the spirit of the famous George Santayana quote: "those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it," for over 30 years this global organization has been delivering classroom strategies, resources and lessons that inspire young people to learn tolerance and take civic responsibility in their worlds. Internationally heralded for their quality and effectiveness, Facing History touches over 2 million schoolchildren a year through their network of educators, events, website and resources (in fact among its fans are the Obamas).
Visit their site and you will find a wealth of Educator Resources (that are excellent for parents too) on topics of major scope, including Civil Rights, Darfur, and Immigration. The Holocaust and Antisemitism have always been a special focus of theirs; as of last night they have assembled a thoughtful collection of articles and resources related to yesterday’s incident and the subject in general. There are also some good discussion questions that can be used to help make a tragedy like this a teachable moment, such as:
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What attracts people to ideologies of hate?
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What is the significance of this location for a shooting?
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What is a hate crime? What can be done to prevent hate crimes?
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What can be done to promote understanding across differences and help people recognize the common humanity we share?
Ultimately, we take hope in Facing History’s core belief, that young people are moral philosophers who are able and willing to think about tough moral and ethical dilemmas, understand that their choices and actions matter, and that they can, and should, be agents of change.
Is an event like yesterday’s hate crime something you would discuss with your kids?
Do you wait to see if they bring it up to you, or might you proactively raise it and indeed treat as a teachable moment? Start a new Hot Topic on this in the Executive Lounge… and let us know your philosophy, what you’ve tried, and how it’s worked.