In a 4th-grade classroom at Bay Farm School, Melissa Saunders is talking about the nature of hate speech. This kind of language, Ms. Saunders notes, is specifically about part of a person’s identity, who they are as a person. “Their identity is something someone cannot change in 30 seconds or less,” Ms. Saunders says, “like the color of their skin or their religion.”
“Do you have thoughts about some other things people can’t change?” she asks the students sitting on the rug around her.
“Their sexuality,” one student notes. “A disability,” another says. And then more students offer suggestions, including body type and size, hair color, genetics, name, intelligence, allergies, eye color, a parent’s job, the size of your house, the language they speak, where their ancestors are from, culture, gender, and gender expression (which is “your boy-ness, your girl-ness, or your in-between-ness,” Ms. Saunders explains).
Ms. Saunders, MS, M.Ed, PPSC, a district counselor who works as AUSD’s LGBTQ Liaison, is offering lessons in hate speech to all fourth and fifth grade classes across the district this year.
“Our students report hearing slurs, derogatory language, and hate speech at school every day- even in early elementary school,” she says. “This topic is something we need to teach students about because it harms our relationships and school communities. Being targeted by hate speech can deeply impact a student’s sense of belonging, connectedness to school, and feelings about themselves.”
The aim of the hate speech lessons is to “help students begin to have a deeper understanding of how and why bias-based language can be deeply hurtful to others and to our community, how to intervene in meaningful ways when they hear it, and how to make a repair if they say or do something hurtful to someone else,” Ms. Saunders says.
Cumulative Impact
At the elementary level, sometimes students understand the words they’re using and their potential impact. Other times, they might have a sense that the word is harmful, but don’t really understand what the word or phrase means.
“Many of our elementary students report hearing racialized language, slurs, and hate speech on YouTube or gaming sites,” Ms. Saunders says. “It’s critical for parents to monitor what their child is viewing online and to talk to their children about what they’re hearing.”
“Our middle and high school LGBTQ students report hearing gay and transgender slurs at school every day. The cumulative impact of this harm can be devastating to students. Also, it’s not just the words that cause students harm, but the fact that other people stay silent and don’t speak up when they hear it.”
Learning to Intervene
In the lessons, students give examples of words they frequently hear at school which are used to hurt others and discuss what they have noticed about how, why, and when the words are used. Almost every student on the rug in this 4th grade class says they have heard “gay” used as a put-down at school, for instance. One student notes that if someone who is gay overhears the term used in a derogatory way, they will feel bad about themselves. “Yes, that could make someone who is gay feel unsafe, unwelcome, or scared at school,” Ms. Saunders says. “Harmful words about a person’s identity might even make them feel like they want to disappear.”
Other harmful speech students have heard include racial slurs toward Asian and Black people, comments about a person’s body, teasing about crushes, and “misgendering” (referring to someone as a gender they don’t identify with).
As such, the lessons also cover ways to respond to something harmful they hear when the person claims it’s “just a joke,” and how students can be an ally to others who are targeted by harmful language- including standing by them, helping them walk away, sticking up for them verbally, and going with them to tell a trusted adult. “Be an upstander. If you’re scared to speak up or you don’t know what to say in the moment, get a friend or trusted adult to help you.” Ms. Saunders says.
A District-Wide Focus
Ms. Saunders is also developing a presentation on hate speech to be shared with parents later this fall. “As adults, we don’t always know how to intervene when we hear hate speech,” she says. “I want to help the adults in our educational community to know how to interrupt harmful language right away, know what to say in the moment and how to follow up with support to students who are targeted by hate speech.”
The efforts are part of a district-wide focus on hate speech this year that includes a compact that all students signed pledging not to use harmful language on campus; enforcing disciplinary consequences for the use of bias-related behavior and speech; and no longer allowing the “N-word” to be used on campus.
“Over the last year, we have heard an increasing number of students report that they’re hearing hate speech on their campuses, says Superintendent Scuderi. “It is imperative to us that students understand this is not allowed in our schools and also why it’s not allowed in our schools. Campuses need to be safe spaces for all, because if students don’t feel safe, they can’t learn. Moreover, we want our students to be growing into young adults who understand that what they say and how they say it matters.”