focused on racial differences, religious
differences, sexual orientation, and
fights among girls. Too often, when I’m
asked to assist schools facing a crisis, I
find that adults have not spoken directly
to students about the issues. Not every
serious incident of bias or violence at a
school needs to result in formal dialogues. But adults should never meet
incidents like the brawl at Mrs. Grant’s
school with silence.
Two years ago, I received a call from
the principal of a school in Northern
Ireland that I hadn’t previously worked
in. I was flying to Northern Ireland the
next week to work in other schools.
The principal, Mr. Ritchie, told me that
his community had experienced a fatal
sectarian beating of a Catholic man by
several Protestant men. He worried that
students would engage in fights or even
riot over the summer, and he wanted
me to speak to the entire student body
to tell them that fighting and riots were
a bad idea.
I told Mr. Ritchie I would not conduct the assembly but would facilitate
a several-hours-long dialogue. He was
reluctant. We agreed that I would visit
his school the next week so that we
could discuss the next steps.
We met early in the morning with
other administrators. Mr. Ritchie told
me that the dialogue was unnecessary
because his students did not have
sectarian bias. I said that in every other
school in Northern Ireland where I
had worked, bias concerning religion
was a significant issue. A few minutes
later, he told me that two of the men
charged with the murder were fathers
of students in his school, but he quickly
added that religious tension was not
an issue. It then came out that several
Catholic students at the school had
witnessed the murder. After much discussion, school leaders agreed to let me
initiate a student dialogue.
The dialogue was initially tense, but
students—Protestant and Catholic—
soon shared that serious sectarian bias
was going in both directions. Students
on both sides were scared. They talked
about what they could do to reduce ten-
sions in the school and keep themselves
safe over the summer. These young
people also told me that adults had initi-
ated no discussions with them in school
about the murder itself or the anger and
fear the crime engendered.
The place where tension over changing
demographics is most likely to erupt
into open discord and violence is school.
ences. He had worried that the dialogue
would create tension within the school.
Instead, students left the dialogue with
far less tension.
Talking about racial, religious, and
other forms of bias can seem a daunting, scary task. Some educators worry
that such conversations will make the
situation worse because students will
become angrier. But when adults fail to
validate students’ fears and anxieties,
those fears and anxieties don’t disappear. They continue to harm students’
ability to focus on academics, and they
allow harassment to continue unabated.
Silence also leaves students with the
mistaken belief that their teachers and
administrators don’t care about serious
issues affecting their lives.
How to Get Students Talking
After a serious incident or when ten-
sions resulting from demographic
change first begin to appear, teachers
to focus on how school climate can
improve is to ask about their hopes for
a school in which students of different
races, ethnicities, and religions all feel
respected and safe. One prompt I’ve
used is “Write about what you hope
for the school in terms of reducing bias
and what you fear will happen if bias
continues.”
It’s crucial for administrators to
reaffirm their school’s commitment to
respect and civility and to recognize
the emotions that students, faculty, and
staff may experience. You can do this
through
n Writing a letter to the school
community.
n Convening assemblies at which
both administrators and students speak
(preferably for each grade rather than
schoolwide).
