Sixth Graders Instigate 'Hit A Jew Day'
 Friday, October 31st, 2008  by Esmerelda

Sixth-graders from Parkway West Middle School near St. Louis, Missouri have been suspended after instigating Hit a Jew Day. It started with an unofficial Spirit Week.

They had executed Hug a Friend Day, and High Five Day. The next one was Hit a Tall Person Day. Administration was oblivious to what was going on and the children weren't reported so they moved on to Hit a Jew Day.

While it is being taken seriously at the school, many feel the incident has been blown out of proportion.

"From my conversations with people in the Jewish and non-Jewish community, there are many of us who feel the media involvement has overblown the situation," the parent said. "We are not diminishing the incident, just the media frenzy that has followed it."

"I don't believe the motivation was racial or anti-Semitic," Hagle (language arts teacher) said. "It was just immature behavior and poor choices on the part of a small group of sixth-graders."

None of the children were physically injured. The hits consisted mostly of light taps to the arm or shoulders with one child claiming a close friend slapped his face.

What they actually intended we may never know. But the result is this has raised awareness of the issue on an international level. Not just about prejudice against Jewish people but about prejudice against anyone who is different than yourself.


Encourage families and teachers to visit a site like Tolerance.org to learn ways to incorporate learning about other cultures and ethnicities, tolerance, and unity into children's education.

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