Families learn skills to help children manage antisemitism in school

By Lisa Koppel, JCRC Chair

On Sept. 8, our community came together at Jewish Federation of Greater Naples and learned several important messages about managing the growing antisemitism in our schools and online. This event followed many discussions among Federation members as we all realized that the Naples Jewish community needed greater access to resources about antisemitism as well as more opportunities to discuss these issues together.

We all realize that antisemitism and anti-Zionism have become increasingly prevalent, particularly on college campuses, since Oct. 7. Erica Hruby, a facilitator, coach, consultant and senior manager for national teen education and engagement with The Jewish Education Project, came to Naples to guide our families through this difficult time.

She presented ways to help parents better support their children amid the surge in anti-Jewish harassment, vandalism and assault. Children as young as elementary-school-age may encounter such issues, and it is crucial for parents and grandparents to be prepared and informed on how to handle these situations. Hruby reminded us that we need to partner with our schools to prepare and prevent these situations.

By bringing Hruby to Naples, we gained more knowledge about what antisemitism looks like for our school-aged children, from memes on social media to the language that other children use against our children. The attendees also learned that teenagers across the U.S. want to hear more about Israel and what it feels like to live with Palestinian neighbors.

Hruby helped us see that finding ways to keep children informed and answer their questions will help them manage antisemitic comments thrown at them. Keeping our kids informed also means helping them learn about all of the people in Israel so that they actually learn about Palestinians and Israelis.

Thank you to all of our in-person and online attendees who now feel much more informed and better equipped to talk to their children about these challenges. For resources on how to talk to your child about antisemitism, visit https:// link.edgepilot.com/s/31db887f/Q5Dza2UBk0SKlo_adh-Abg?u=http://www.adl.org/.