Published in 1975, Midge Decter's book Liberal Parents, Radical Children takes to task parents whose "enlightened" standards surrounding education, drug use, and sexuality evolved into raising a generation inclined to radical pursuits.
In her opening letter to "My Dear Children," Decter notes that "our contentions with you were based on appeal, not on authority" and that by refusing this central tenet of parenting, children were left without a "final authority on good and bad, right and wrong."
Nearly 50 years later, the loosening guardrails that Decter describes have gained prominence in New York City's K-12 classrooms. Since the October 7 massacre in Israel by Palestinian terrorists, a slew of antisemitic events spearheaded by leftist teachers and terrorizing teens have been met without a meaningful response by the chancellor of the city's public schools, David Banks.
In recent months, critical learning time has been disrupted by "educators" taking students to join anti-Israel walkouts while, in several schools, scenes of mobs marching through the hallways chanting death threats targeting Jews are creating an academic climate of intimidation and fear among Jewish staffers and students.
Rather than confront this behavior with clarity, Banks has sought to quell the situation by implementing liberal-leaning learning methods designed to teach about antisemitism and Islamophobia.
Unlike conservative states like Florida, where pupils propagandizing an antisemitic ideology are suspended, NYC is at the epicenter of an academic rebelliousness catalyzed by progressive policymakers who remain resistant to applying the authoritative change that our current moment demands.
On November 20, hundreds of students at Hillcrest High School in Queens marched through the halls, waving Palestinian flags and calling for the eradication of Israel. A Jewish teacher who had recently shared a pro-Israel post soon found herself barricaded inside a locked office as members of the New York Police Department rushed to escort her to safety.
The disturbing incident at Hillcrest precedes other alarming developments that have unfolded in New York.
Earlier this month, Jewish teachers at Brooklyn-based Origins High School received an email stating that "all Jews need to be exterminated." Moreover, reports surfaced that weeks after Hamas launched their deadly assault on Israel, dozens of students marched through Origins shrieking, "Kill all the Jews."
Instead of punishing students and protecting staffers, NYC education officials expressed shocking degrees of tolerance for antisemitism, with the deputy chancellor of public schools, Dan Weisberg, maintaining that it is "Not helpful to demonize and paint with a broad brush students at an incredibly diverse school."
He then defended the "Restorative Justice" approach preferred by Origins acting principal, Dara Kammerman, whose response to the unrest was to take a field trip to The Museum of Jewish Heritage, which the New York Post reported was canceled due to the group's bullying of museum staffers.
It bears mentioning that antisemitic academic episodes extend beyond the classroom.
In November, under the umbrella of "social justice," hundreds of NYC public school students participated in a "National Shutdown for Palestine," an event that galvanized high school teachers and students to skip class and parade toward Bryant Park. Other places have since promoted similar solidarity "walkouts."
Given the time New York's schools devote to anti-Israel activism, it should come as no surprise that state test scores released in 2023 revealed that "roughly 50 percent" of third through eighth-grade city students were not proficient in reading or math.
While Chancellor Banks publicly condemned Hamas's brutality in the aftermath of last fall's slaughter, his actions since then have done little to thwart the Jew-hating currents streaming through city institutions.
Rather than discipline the hundreds of teenagers at Hillcrest, where Banks himself was a student, the chancellor sought to divert the discourse by blaming the consumption of sites, such as TikTok, as a reason behind why some students "feel a kindred spirit with folks in the Palestinian community."
He further downplayed their deviancy by remarking that "the notion that this place is radical, these kids are radicalized and antisemitic, is the height of irresponsibility."
Banks' rhetoric suggests a softening stand against confronting antisemitism in academic circles while manufacturing a paradigm under which those joining in the bullying are relieved of punishment. Further contributing to the state's administrative bloat, Banks is focused on rolling out policies to cultivate communication and convene discussions to help shed light on what leads students to engage in such violence.
Earlier this year, the city's public schools unveiled a new plan to combat anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim bigotry. Included in the guidelines, which mention upholding the district's discipline code, middle and high school principals would receive training on "navigating difficult conversations" and "attend workshops on creating "teachable moments" by facilitating "student discussion."
Using a bureaucratic approach to address an issue whose rectification depends on discipline delineates why the hateful tenor embedded in the city's public schools grows with each passing year. Rather than expend crucial resources on curating a curriculum whose objective in alleviating tensions remains dubious, at best, Banks' time would be far better spent on investigating methods of improving academic standards while swiftly penalizing antisemitic offenders.
What’s more, as seasoned educators prepare to retire, their replacements will be professionals whose skills are increasingly derived from activist universities, thereby denying them the critical thinking capabilities that in the past have symbolized a past generation of teachers.
For their part, many parents are likely to object to handing the explanation reins over to a cohort of educators whose progressive ethos and hostility towards the Jewish state disqualify them from absorbing Israel’s place in the conflict with any measure of objectivity.
In the absence of harsh consequences, incorporating educational plans and launching instruction manuals to deal with such depraved levels of behavior amounts to a hollow virtue signal that will strengthen those whose despicable actions should deny them a space in NYC classrooms.
Irit Tratt is an independent writer residing in New York. She obtained her Master's in International Affairs with a focus on the Mideast from George Washington University. She has worked as a legislative assistant for several members of Congress. She maintains her advocacy work through her involvement with organizations such as The Tikvah Fund, The Republican Jewish Coalition, and The Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA). Irit is a steering committee member on the Board of Fellows at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA). Ms. Tratt has been published in The Jerusalem Post, The American Spectator, The Algemeiner, JNS, and Israel Hayom. Read More of Irit Tratt's Reports — Here.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.