Fighting hatred

     By Tina Allen
     View staff writer
      Hate crimes and hate-related information on the Internet were the focal points at a recent workshop for local teachers, administrators and counselors.
      The workshop, sponsored by the Anti-Defamation League and the Clark County School District's Project Multi-Cultural Education, provided school personnel with tips on identifying such crimes and helping students avoid hate sites.
      Jason Skoboloff, community director for the Anti-Defamation League, which monitors hate sites, said the Internet tends to be an inexpensive and quick way for extremist groups to disseminate propaganda. He said the groups particularly like to feed on young people.
      "They dress up their extremist hate sites with fancy music, they use crossword puzzles or games," Skoboloff said. "These young kids log on, maybe they are high school age, and it can be very dangerous, the effects of that."
      Skoboloff said problems often exist when students are doing research on the computer on topics like the Holocaust. He said they are just as likely to end up at a hate site by doing a search on the Internet for information on that subject.
      To combat these problems, the Anti-Defamation League has launched a hate filter, which can be downloaded from its Web site at www.adl.org. The cost is $29.95.
      "For example, if a parent were to download that, their child punches in KKK or something symbolic of an extremist group, it will go directly to the ADL site, which provides a list of options, Holocaust education, and so on," Skoboloff said. "They can choose what the want to learn about it, but they will be learning factual, historical information."
      Rob Nielson, a history teacher at the Community College High School on CCSN's Cheyenne campus, who attended the workshop, said he would like to see the school district incorporate hate crime issues in the curriculum.
      "My whole opinion is they need to have a required class for graduation on an issue of respect," said Nielson, who previously taught at Durango High School. "I don't like using tolerance classes, because then you are just using tolerance, and tolerance itself is almost discriminatory.
      "I'm just against all hatred," Nielson said. "We need to do something about it. I think because the press is so negative toward the schools, that the schools can't be honest. I think that perpetuates a real problem. If everybody really wants to solve this, everybody has to work together instead of all the bashing of the schools."
      Tamar Galatzan, Western States associate counsel for the Anti-Defamation League, said there are very few prosecutions of hate crimes, not only in Nevada, but nationwide.
      "It's very hard to prosecute these cases unless you have a slam dunk case, because what you are asking a jury to do is say `this person is a bigot and that's why he or she did this,' " Galatzan said. "And that is a hard thing for a person to sit in judgement of someone else and say that unless it is a slam dunk case."
      However, she said there are areas that school personnel should monitor closely.
      "If you have name calling on campus or people wear T-shirts with things on there you think might cause a problem, it's not going to stop there," she said. "If it's not dealt with at that point, it's going to grow. That is showing you there are problems, there is tension and there are going to be problems. There are a number of warning signs leading up to it, and that is where it really has to be dealt with so it doesn't grow and so you as teachers and community members and parents can get a handle on it. Law enforcement needs to also know about it."