There is no space for hate and intolerance, and kindness goes a long way.
That was the message received today by grade 7 and 8 students in the Nipissing-Parry Sound Catholic District Board. Hundreds of them filed into the auditorium at St. Joseph-Scollard Hall to hear a presentation from Daniella Lurion from the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) for Holocaust Studies.
Tuesday's message “is important, because now more than ever, students have to understand the dangers of hate and intolerance. It’s important to learn about people who came before us in our own history as Canadians,” Lurion noted.
The presentation, entitled “Roots of Hate and Intolerance,” aimed to “heighten awareness and promote dialogue and positive action within the school and community,” the FSWC detailed in a release.
See: Local board welcomes anti-hate education in schools
Simon Wiesenthal survived the concentration camps during WWII, and the presentation began with some of that history. “Nothing too graphic or violent,” would be discussed, Lurion assured the assembly, and from Wiesenthal’s story, she turned briefly to residential schools, Japanese internment camps, slavery, and other examples of hatred and intolerance.
On November 14, the school board also held two presentations for high school students. Andy Réti, a holocaust survivor, spoke to the students about those horrific times.
The school board’s Director of Education, Paula Mann, said, ““Our Board values the partnership we have with the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies (FSWC) in providing this important and powerful learning for our students across all of our NPSC schools.”
Mann continued, “These learning opportunities over the past week, focusing on the history of the Holocaust and the Roots of Hate and Intolerance reflect our shared responsibility in developing understanding of these dark times in history with our students and our commitment to foster inclusive learning cultures that serve to promote the dignity of the human person.”
Essentially, yesterday's presentation warned youth against the “us versus them” mentality that works to separate people from each other. Lurion continued, “That’s the behaviour that you still see today, whether it’s in the world, in cities, or even at school.”
Indeed, the lessons learned are meant to continue, as the FSWC provided some workshop materials with the teachers to continue the discussions in the classroom.
Lurion noted, “We encourage them to be active, to do something, so a lot of the message in any workshop that we offer ends with questions like, ‘Okay, these things have happened, what do you know about them?’”
Education is key, Lurion continued, “Because that’s the way that these students understand that the past isn’t just something that happened, it’s something that still reverberates today and in our futures.”
The students enjoyed the presentation, were eager to participate when asked, and for the most part, were full of wide-eyed attention throughout the hour.
Lurion concluded the presentation with a challenge: that each member of the audience does something kind for another person. Whether that be at school, in the community, or even online, she emphasized the importance of being kind to your neighbours and friends.
With that, positive change can come, Lurion added. For example, “Ask, 'How’s it going?' to a student at recess standing by themselves. That may not mean that much to some people, but to that one person, it means everything.”
David Briggs is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of BayToday, a publication of Village Media. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
