What is this country coming to? Kids are so different these days.

That's pretty outrageous. If I were a kid in that school my parents would be terribly, terribly upset by that.

I wouldn't have approved of Hit a Tall Kid day either - are there any responsible adults at this school?

"What is this country coming to? Kids are so different these days."

I hate that phrase...sure, intolerance is something new in this country.

With that said, its a shame there isn't more teaching of respect and appreciation of different cultures and faiths in school. My school had to have it, we were so diverse.

I'm sorry to offend you jessie.

But in my day kids like that would have been expelled immediately. And where I grew up, things like that just didn't happen. So, I stick by my phrase. Kids do all kinds of stuff these days that we all would have had our necks wrung for. Sheesh, are we all going to pick apart each other for everything?

You didn't offend me persay, people just use that phrase for eveything when in reality you can't make clear comparisons across time. I'm sure you didn't mean it that seriously, but it really grates my nerves when people don't take in the entire picture. Not to get off topic or incite a huge conversation about this, but marriage is a good example. People talk about how high the divorce rate is and how people didn't get divorced back in the day, without taking in how socially unaccpetable it was to get divorced, even if your husband was beating you or how different the definition of marriage is today than it was in the past or how different the expectations were of women.

Anyway I think it says a lot that this made headlines. In my mom's day this kind of intolerant act wouldn't have made headlines and she grew up in Detroit, MI. There is at least a public expectation of acceptance of minority groups in America today.

wow.

sixth graders?!? when i saw the title, i immediately thought it was high school or even college students, but sixth graders!! geez. And they're "facing" suspension??!!?!?Like, they might not even be suspended?!? Give me a break. It is also rather disturbing that "s lot of kids knew about it and didnt take action or say anything"

and i'm sorry for all that punctuation

This is so horrible. Sixth graders? Was it a joke they learned from something like South Park? Or something much worse they learned from their parents?

GS, it's a shame you get picked apart just for condemning this.

I wasn't picking GS apart. Sigh, if don't read what I actually say than...

Alright, Jessie, I guess I just interpreted it wrong. Sometimes people like to start arguments for no reason and it's just hard to tell. I apologize.

Wow, this shocks me! I really cannot believe that this happened, and that kids actually participated in this! WTF??

I know what you are saying, GS, this would have been grounds for immediate expulsion when I was in school and you better believe the parents would have set these kids straight!

And Mich has a good question - where did these kids even get this idea?

My first thought when I saw this on the news today was that this would NOT fly back when I was a kid!! And I am not saying that because things were less racist - we definitely had some racist comments here and there but something as horrible as this was grounds for being expelled. I grew up in Queens New York so the schools I attended were (and are) very multi cultural to begin with but I just cannot imagine ANY school letting this kind of behavior go one without facing serious consequences.

Probably parents or friends parents...

Now I wonder where the post is covering Palin's speech anout her policy on children with disabilities. I liked it, she turned down her folksyness (I knew some of it had to be fake) to speak passionately about an issue she knew about. I mean its great for my party , but why wait so late to get down to the issues people want to hear about and have Palin present herself as a competent person. There seems to be a disturbing trend of Republican candidates presenting themselves as less than (yeah I'm looking at you Bush), to appeal to the public.

It doesn't matter if it was 'highjinks'. There's no excuse and if they don't take it seriously, it'll happen again. The punishment has to be severe to send a message to students that this won't be tolerated. It's sickening that others knew about it and yet said nothing.

Exactly Mich, Martini and Geebers.

Ok, I read the linked article and it says this:

"Those who actually struck classmates could face suspension and required counseling, Tandy said. Others who weren't directly involved but taunted Jewish students or egged on classmates could face lesser penalties."

If they taunted Jewish students or encouraged their classmates to hit them, I think they should face the exact same penalty!! Wow, this really makes me angry!

What the hell!! OMG

Martini, I like your new avatar!

Thanks, Mich! I wanted a new "look"!

I agree Martini - these kids are never going to learn if they don't face an appropriate punishment.

I think there needs to be punishment to show this is NOT acceptable at all - especially when kids are this young and can carry on these ideas - but I also think children need to be taught by teacher and parents why this is wrong. If these kids come from households where the parents make racist/prejudice remarks against any group or even if they seem to be okay with such speech then we can't blame the 10 year olds, can we.

Secondly, I think the school/parents need to step back and examine the situation a bit before approaching this so they don't make things worse (a habit schools can't seem to break), for example, if this was done in a knowingly and purposely hateful way 'because the kids didn't like jews" then it should be dealt with in a different light then if it was kids being hurtful without realizing the full extent of their actions (example, when we were in middle school friends from different backgrounds sometimes made jokes with each other that would sound a million times worse to someone who did not know they were friends and were more making fun of stereotypes rather than believing them) - I doubt that the case here, and even if it was, 6th grade is not the age where social satire should be encouraged.

Just ridiculous! They shouldnt even have tolerated a Hit "insert anything here" day at all...or these kids are going to grow up thinking hitting is just fine as long as they make up a day for it!

You know when I first read the tittle I presumed this was college or high school and nearly blew my top, but this is elementary school. Yes equally a sad state of affairs however the opportunity and receptivity for change is high and unless the adults parents, teachers and administrators involved here seriously screw things up I think these young children will soon be reformed individuals.

The incident also speaks to an underlying cultural ignorance that is pervasive in main stream children. Parents should be more active in exposing there children to cultures so that when they're encountered rather than be an oddity to make fun of it might even be interesting and let's not forget mutual respect for everyone.

Violence in any way shape or form has no place in a school "Spirit Week" (how in the world does "Hit a Jew" show school spirit? sick!) and the promotion of intolerance is deplorable (I personally think "hit a tall person" is also disgusting.) IMO *all* kids involved should be dealt with sternly as an example to all the students that the school's policy is not to abide intolerance in any form.

It started out as Hug a Friend day, then High-Five Day, there was no official Hit a Person Day, some students changed it to Hit a Tall Person Day and that turned into Hit a Jew Day.

This happened out in Chesterfield (upper middle class) at Parkway West Middle School. One child was even slapped in the face. Four Boys and a girl got suspended. The School and Anti-Defamation League are working together now hopefully they can come up with something, but they, imo, should the parents in this as well.

http://www.ksdk.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=158392&catid=3

Meant to write

imo, they should include the parents.

Which they are, the district and the ADL agreed on several programs to help students, parents and staff.

Maybe he just needs a great a** whipping from his parents. I am so offended that children are doing things like this. I wonder what the punishment was from his family perspective.

I think to develop a child like this, the home life that would foster it, they may not face much punishment. Who knows though?

Scary Avatar. GS, true. Some parents seem they are scared of their kids. It's been a rough day. The news, sighs.

I once new a Jackass that wore braces GS.

Oh Bellaressa you just reminded me of when my daddy used to go out into the front yard look up into the willow tree and carefully select a nice switch. Girrrl I ran around in circles screaming before the front door even closed on his way out to the tree and when I saw him grap a switch I would freeze in horror then before he could get back inside I flew out that back door like a bat out of hell. LOL! Oh the memories.

You didn't have to go out and find your own? Makes you wonder if this kid had a switch --I bet he would be different.

Yeah girl we didn't mess with my parents all my mommy had to do is look at us side ways and we were angels.

[Yeah girl we didn't mess with my parents all my mommy had to do is look at us side ways and we were angels.]

You too??

makes you wonder what happen to some of the parents who grew up like this, what happen to their skills.

Mmm Hm

LOL! Their skills.

Now you see I wouldn't spank my children I'm more into the psychological approach. I think the point is though that so many parents are absent in the discipline department whether they spank or not.

The kid in this article needs something. Not all kids need to be spanked but some kids today need a little something extra. Maybe a corner.

As I got older my parents switched from spanking to punishment. We had a large patch of land on the side of our property when I was growning up that was always over grown with weeds. Whenever my mother was upset with me she'd ask me to go pull the weeds on the side of the house. Little did she know though that I found it quite theraputic but I never told her that.

This sucks. But I don't think they should be expelled. They should be shamed. I think that there was "group think" involved and people didn't really understand what they were doing. I guess I'd think differently if it weren't 6th grade but that's just so young.

This is just plain awful...I simply can't imagine being one of those young Jewish children wondering why my classmates are targeting me for the object of their enjoyment...because I was born into a family of a particular faith? Oh, how hurtful. I know that because of the psyche of children, they tend to be more hurtful (often unintentionally)and offensive to others, and perhaps these children were unaware that this behavior isn't funny, but I hope they intend to have a sit down with all of the students and parents and provide cultural awareness teaching to help educate these students on the appropriate treatment of others who may be, and often are, different.

"Facing suspension" and that's it?! This is disgusting.

This is horrible. Why are they only "facing suspension"? What is this country coming to? Is this what we want from the educational system that we diligently pay for?

I am in STL and I am also a member of the Jewish community out here, so I have been looking into this for a day or two.

From what I gather, it started off as a tap on the shoulder, and one article I read actually suggested that it was some Jewish students that were friends that started it. I think that these students are in the age range where what makes you different really begins to be explored, and maybe some kids were getting bar or bat mitzvahed. Maybe it was a kid making a self-depricating joke and someone took it too far.

I do think it is awful, but I don't necessarily think that I can assume that the kids have horrible parents or that the kids are neo-nazis in the making. I think they made a joke and probably didn't understand the ramifications of what would happen. I also read that they are scheduled to study the holocaust later this year, and that the teachers expect that the lessons will have a greater impact on the students because of what has happened.

juju-I was actually thinking, "oh some kid watched something stupid on South Park, and didn't realize that jokes on South Park do NOT translate into real life humor."

Of course, they could be neo-nazis, though what you read seems to suggest perhaps not. I think this will be an eye-opening experience for them though.

The article says that this was an *unofficial* "Spirit Week".

When WE had "Spirit Week" in middle and high school [not really THAT long ago for me], it was ALWAYS orchestrated or at least approved by the school administration. I don't think the administration trusted students enough to build their OWN "Spirit Week" themes precisely because they were afraid things like THIS ["Hit a Jew" Day? Come on!] would come up, and they'd get sued. Was it the student body or student council that put this together, then, or just a rogue bunch of kids?

Find out why these kids did this, and address the issue appropriately. Counseling is definitely in order, I think.