Majority of York parents fear for Jewish kids’ safety in school

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Since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, parents across Canada have complained that schools have become hostile environments to Jewish students. Now, a survey of dozens of Ontario schools suggests that huge majorities of parents worry about the safety and social isolation of Jewish students.

The informal survey, carried out between May 12 and May 15, comes at a time when school boards, parents and community members are concerned about alleged acts of antisemitism and other forms of discrimination in schools, both on the part of other students and teachers and staff.

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The survey report, written by Sharon Aschaiek, a member of the York Region District School Board’s parent, family and community engagement advisory committee, surveyed 193 families — many of them likely Jewish — on the state of antisemitism in classrooms.

“Children are scared to go to school. Families are scared to send their kids to school,” said Aschaiek in an interview. “They’re being vilified because of their ethnic and religious identity, and to be quite frank, the response from the school board has been weak and in many cases non-existent.”

The non-scientific survey found that 82 per cent of those who responded are either fearful or very fearful for the safety of Jewish students. The survey encompasses the 39 elementary schools and 12 high schools covered by the board. The school board has around 130,000 students, and about eight per cent are Jewish.

One example cited in the report quotes a parent saying they were told a Grade 3 student stood and yelled “I hate Jews” during reading time.

A further 77 per cent of survey respondents expressed concern that Jewish students would be socially isolated because of their identity while at school. The report also includes alleged comments and incidents from other students and staff in various York schools.

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“My daughter is afraid to come to school by herself, she heard numerous times that ‘Jews are the problem’ and that they desire Holocaust. She got food leftovers thrown onto her,” one anonymous parent told Aschaiek.

Ninety-one per cent of survey respondents said they were concerned about Jewish children being exposed to antisemitic graffiti at school. Examples in the report include swastikas drawn on desks or included in a presentation.

The examples raised by parents run a whole gamut of severity. One parent raised concerns about “inaccurate comments about Israel and the war,” and another said “my daughter has a classmate that is openly anti-Israel.” But these comments, arguably matters of political opinion or understandable in the context of a classroom environment, stand in stark contrast to more extreme examples.

“In an environment where children are not properly educated on what antisemitism is and how it can manifest in different ways, kids are not going to understand what that looks like, and they can fall victim to propaganda and hate,” Aschaiek said. “I think what was most concerning is hearing comments by teachers.”

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Indeed, 87 per cent of survey respondents are fearful or very fearful that Jewish students will be subject to verbal attacks. A further 77 per cent are fearful there will be physical attacks against Jewish students.

“A teacher in my daughter’s English class made a comment to another student about his Jew nose. Sadly, she wasn’t too affected because she just doesn’t see this as shocking anymore,” said one parent.

The atmosphere at school, the anonymous parents told Aschaiek, have led some students to refrain from wearing Jewish symbols such as the Star of David, chai jewelry or the sudra.

Other students have been called “kike,” an ethnic slur directed at Jews dating back to the 19th century or have overheard students giving the Nazi salute or praising Hitler. “A group of boys told (my daughter) she will be their Jewish sex slave one day as she is a terrorist and will be treated as such. She comes home from school crying everyday,” said one parent.

As a result, the survey also asked parents whether they support mandatory antisemitism training for teachers: 97 per cent of respondents agreed that this should occur. Ninety-five per cent also say the school board should adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism, which has been adopted by the Ontario and federal governments. “This definition makes it easier to identify and address all forms of Antisemitism,” the report says. (It has, however, been controversial in some quarters, with critics arguing that it conflates criticism of Israel with antisemitism and therefore can be used to suppress legitimate political expression.)

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The report also makes multiple recommendations on how the York Region District School Board can address antisemitism, including mandatory training on antisemitism for staff; develop an anti-hate and oppression framework that includes antisemitism; address antisemitism in diversity and inclusion programming; diversify the board’s senior leadership team, as none are Jewish, according to the report; among others.

“Why isn’t the school board rising to the occasion and doing what it needs to do, to train teachers, to identify, to prevent, to address and to report on antisemitism in schools?” Aschaiek said. “They’re absolutely abandoning the Jewish community.”

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