How to Combat Hate Speech in Schools?

By: Ivana Golijanin

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The Jewish cultural, educational, and humanitarian society "La Benevolencija", with the support of the European Union and the Council of Europe, and in cooperation with the TPO Foundation, has launched a project
for the education of primary and secondary school students from the municipalities of Centar and Stari Grad on hate speech, antisemitism, Islamophobia, xenophobia, Jews in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Holocaust, as well as all other forms of exclusion of the 'other' from the socio-cultural community.

The activities, which are part of the joint program of the European Union and the Council of Europe "Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022", include a wide range of lectures and
workshops aimed at raising awareness of the problems that the society we live in faces in the fight against racism, xenophobia, and ethnic discrimination.

"I am truly glad that through such work, children's attention is drawn to this topic, which is very important in today's time, and that they are encouraged to talk and discuss it. Hatred stems from fear, and teaching and talking with children about how to overcome the fear of the 'other', embracing their differences, and learning from them, is the mission of all of us. This is the direction in which we want to guide their growth and maturation, and form personalities who do not hate, do not despise, but advocate for and fight against hatred and its bitter fruits directed against those who are different," said Emina Mujan, principal of Primary School 'Mula Mustafa Bašeskija'.

Students shared their own experiences, and some of them reflected on forms of hatred based on intolerance, discrimination against minorities, immigrants, and the division between vaccinated and unvaccinated, which is a product of the recent epidemiological situation. The topic was актуализирано through examples and a workshop based on the principles of philosophy for children. The overall goal of the workshop was to emphasize the importance of empathy in the process of accepting and understanding the problems caused by widespread hate speech in public and private discourse. 

"I think this is a new and interesting way of learning about these topics, especially because we only talked about them in history classes. I am glad that the workshops and discussions were interactive because we all had the opportunity to express our opinions. I think young people must work on fighting discrimination, and workshops like these are a good starting point for that," said Una Kovačević, a second-year student at the Secondary School Centre, General-Real Gymnasium, after the workshop.

The results of the lectures and workshops on the topic "Hate Speech and its Consequences" indicate the unenviable situation regarding knowledge and general awareness of the mentioned topic, and they tell us about the necessity of further active engagement in raising awareness among educational institutions about hate speech and its consequences.