I certainly wouldn’t classify what the kid said as “hate speech.” He’s a jerk, and a twerp, but not much more at this point.
If the kid does something like this again, you could tell him, in the presence of the teacher, “look, this is the second time you’ve done something like this (detailing the first offense) and it’s getting tiresome. If you can’t keep your comments to yourself, maybe the dean (or whoever) can help you figure out what’s OK and what isn’t.”
Or something.
not with religion…my last name…and a somewhat famous pig on a popular tv show when I was growing up…I always found a blank stare - similar to “oh, when did you show up and what ridiculous thing did you just say” loo will sometimes get them…plan b) ignore them…they WILL go away - but as long as he gets a rise out of you…he’ll be there to stay.
My experience with such situations is that ignoring them does not make them stop, it just leads to escalating levels. Such bully-type people will graduate from nasty ‘jokes’ to direct insults to physical threats and eventual actual physical attacks. This trend is quite clear, and it seems to accelerate when there is no effective response from either the victim or the school officials.
So clearly, the way to stop this is to respond immediately each time it occurs. Speak up, specifically state your objection, and ask him to stop. And request the school authorities to do their job, too. You need to put both this bully and the school on notice that this is not acceptable, and that you are not willing to continue tolerating it. Maybe ask your parents to speak to his parents about this, too.
Unless you put a stop to this now, it will just get worse!
Ignoring it will not make it go away!
And putting a stop to this might also help this kid out, too. Sounds like he needs to learn some appropriate behavior now, before he trys this in a bar in a few years and ends up with his teeth down his throat. Getting the message thru to him in high school might just save him.
I think tomndebb has got a little carried away in defence of a position. I think that there is a huge range of measures available between a 2 word response that leaves the “twerp” to improve his attitude by osmosis, and the invoked images of sledgehammers, destroyed walls and desks, “zero tolerance” and “three strikes and you’re out” laws. I believe that some non-punitive discussion of why the behaviour is unacceptable would be beneficial for all parties.
If the behaviour does escalate I can’t imagine “I said, ‘not funny’” will carry any weight.
If you’ll re-read the OP, you will note that the measure that had been contemplated involved the suspension of the twerp from school that would “ruin his life.” Sounds like a sledgehammer to me.
Again. We are talking about a stupid one-liner that makes the author of said one-liner look stupid. Every decent teacher that I had was quite capable of using “Not funny” to make a student want to go curl up in a corner and die of embarrassment. (And the twerp is an academic achiever. I strongly suspect that he already knows that what he is doing has crossed the bounds of propriety. Given his behavior, as described in two threads, he is unlikely to be brought to an “understanding” of how offensive his actions are–he already knows–he simply needs to quit doing it.)
The other aspect of this (that I have mentioned) is that there is no evidence (yet presented) that this is anything more than an issue of one twerp teasing an academic rival. How many people would be outraged at the inadequate punishment of the twerp if the harrassment took the form of focussing on agiantdwarf’s big feet, non-local accent, or 1970s hair style? Yes, antisemitism is a BAD THING. However, unless there is a pervasive attitude in the school that encourages discrimination against Jews, I do not see the justification for invoking “hate crime” legalisms. If agiantdwarf is suddenly the object of mogen davids or Hakenkreuzen spray-painted on lockers, then we have a potential issue of serious persecution. For all that I suspect I am considered a “liberal” in nearly all discussions of race and religion on these threads, I do not believe that stupid, juvenile acts always warrant punishment, nor do I believe that we should punish every hateful utterance.
Given that the teacher had not known of the earlier teasing, “Not funny” remains the appropriate response. A separate issue is the ongoing teasing, itself. If it has taken the form of direct harrassment, then agiantdwarf should be taking that issue to the faculty. (I would even recommend that agiantdwarf bring up the subject of the continuing remarks with the student advisor/guidance counsellor/ass’t. principal or whoever handles student feuds. I do think that bullying should be addressed and prohibited. However, as presented, there is no reason for this teacher to have known that she was witnessing the latest act of bullying.)
Furthermore, agiantdwarf may well not know the whole story. I teach junior English, and this easily could have happened in my AP class.
I also would have just said “not funny” or something along those lines because bright juniors are experts at derailing whatever is suppossed to happen in class that day in order to have a 45 minute discussion about what consitutes hate speech–or any othe topic that comes to hand. While I appriciate this sort of intellectual curiosity, if not controlled it happens every single day, and they don’t have any English class at all, just Great Debates. We do this sometimes, but we can’t do it every time.
So I would have dismissed his words with a short, dismissive quip. Then, I’d have held him after class or had him come back after school and given him a lecture on why, exactly, the holocaust isn’t ever funny, unless he had a better rapport with the history teacher, in which case I’d ask her to do it. I wouldn’t have mentioned agiantdwarf at all–the comment was tasteless all on its own, regardless of the target, and I wouldn’t mention the conversation to agiantdwarf after the fact, because reprimanding a student is a private matter. If I supected that there was a pattern of bullying, I would ask agiantdwarf about that.
You: What were these good ideas?