Take the Pledge to Stop Hate
Questions for Discussion
Read the situations below (adapted
from the book Hate Hurts) individually or as a class.
Discuss the questions with your parents or teacher and classmates.
Sally was someone Allison and her
friends made fun of at school. Allison didn't know why,
but she joined her friends in laughing at Sally and calling
her names behind her back. When Allison was alone and
would see Sally, she would smile at her and Sally always
smiled back. They began to talk and spend time together
away from school. Allison spent a day with Sally at Sally's
summer cottage. They also spent a lot of weekends together,
just the two of them. Allison realized that Sally was
a wonderful person and friend who never said anything
nasty about other people. At school, Allison was torn
between her friends and Sally. She felt she had no choice
but to join her friends in making fun of Sally.
What would you do in Allison's situation? What if
you were Sally?
At recess one day, Ian heard one of his classmates tell
a joke that made fun of Jews who were killed in the Holocaust.
The kids who were gathered around Ian's classmate laughed
at the joke. Ian didn't think it was funny, and it made
him mad at everyone who was laughing. Ian's grandmother
was a Holocaust survivor. She had a number tattooed on
her arm from the concentration camp. Ian then noticed
that his teacher was standing near the group and she heard
the joke, too. He expected her to say something to the
students, but she didn't. Ian felt that the teacher's
inaction was the same as saying it was okay to tell those
kinds of jokes, even in front of a Jewish person.
What would you do if you were Ian? What would you do
if you were the teacher? What if you were the kid telling
the joke and you noticed that your joke had hurt Ian's
feelings? What would you say to Ian?
Hate comes from fear and ignorance, according to authors Caryl
Stern-Larosa and Ellen Hofheimer Bettmann. In their book Hate
Hurts: How Children Learn and Unlearn Prejudice, the authors
say that people are not born hating others. Instead, people learn
to hate from many places: parents, peers, and daily events. Whatever
the reason for hate, people can change their behavior and their
This book explores where hate comes from and how each of us
can take steps to unlearn hate. Without even knowing it, you could
be hurting others with your behavior.
How many times have you told a joke that might be considered
inappropriate? When we tell jokes, do we think of the hurt that
joke might cause someone else? What if you were the object of
one of those jokes? Realizing that something as simple as a joke
can hurt someone is one of the first steps in learning to undo
Jokes are not the only way we can hurt others. Name calling
is a common cause of distress for most kids. How does it make
you feel when you call someone else a name? Think how you would
feel if you were called by that name. Many words in our language
indicate bias against a group or person. Do the words you use
truly reflect how you feel?
In their book, Stern-Larosa and Bettmann offer ways to unlearn
prejudicial behavior. One suggestion is to take the following
I pledge from this day onward to do my best to interrupt prejudice
and to stop those who, because of hate, would hurt, harass, or
violate the civil rights of anyone.
- I will try at all times to be aware of my own biases against
people who are different from myself.
- I will ask questions about cultures, religions, and races
that I don't understand.
- I will speak out against anyone who mocks, seeks to intimidate,
or actually hurts someone of a different race, religion, ethnic
group, or sexual orientation.
- I will reach out to support those who are targets of harassment.
- I will think about specific ways my school, other students,
and my community can promote respect for people and create a
- I firmly believe that one person can make a difference
and that no person can be an "innocent bystander" when it comes
to opposing hate.
Caryl Stern-Larosa is the Anti-Defamation
(ADL) Director of Education and the ADL A WORLD OF
DIFFERENCE Institute. She is also the co-author of two books,
HATE HURTS: How Children Learn and Unlearn Prejudice
FUTURE PERFECT: A Model for Professional Development
well as a number of magazine and journal articles.