The start of the new school year has brought to the forefront concerns for many Jewish families, with worries extending far beyond the usual back-to-school shopping lists.
As children head back to class, they are not just learning math and reading, but also navigating their place in society and whether the adults around them will protect them. However, the recent surge in antisemitic threats and violence has raised serious concerns about their safety.
According to the latest data, antisemitic hate crimes have increased by 8.5% in the first seven months of this year, with the majority of hate crimes targeting Jewish individuals despite making up only a small portion of the population.
But this is not an isolated issue, with rising antisemitism affecting communities across the country. The FBI has reported that Jewish victims account for 16% of all hate crimes, despite making up only 2% of the population.
Furthermore, a staggering 10% of these hate crimes occur in schools, with antisemitic incidents at K-12 schools increasing by 434% since 2020.
The impact of rising antisemitism is not limited to the Jewish community. It has far-reaching consequences for society as a whole and requires a comprehensive response from our cultural and political leaders.
Online platforms must take responsibility for enforcing their rules against incitement and threats. Research has shown that the majority of Americans who encounter antisemitism see or hear it online or on social media, with two-thirds of Jewish adults who experience this failing to report it due to a lack of confidence in action being taken.
The implications are profound for both Jewish and non-Jewish children, who often carry online sentiments into their real lives. A culture that excuses online antisemitism will eventually meet students at the school locker, bus stop, and classroom.
Schools have a critical role to play in setting a standard for how a free society responds to hate. Administrators must take immediate and appropriate action to respond to harassment, and education must be more than a one-off assembly after an incident.
Students should learn about antisemitism, its mutations across different contexts, and the corrosive effects of targeting Jews on civic life for everyone. Schools and law enforcement must coordinate before a crisis, with every school that serves Jewish students having a clear plan for reporting threats, preserving evidence, and protecting students who are targeted.
Safety must be treated as a public responsibility, not a private surcharge on Jewish families. The costs of security measures are already significant, with Jewish schools spending over $400,000 per year on security, more than $1,000 per student.
Increased funding and a faster, more predictable process for securing grants would help alleviate these costs and ensure that Jewish students can learn without fear of intimidation or harm.
A whole-of-society response requires better education, stronger security, lawful accountability, responsible technology, and the moral clarity to say that Jewish students should never have to hide who they are in order to learn.
