Learn.Respect.Unite
Confronting Antisemitism Together
You Are Not Alone
Being a Jewish student at a K-12 school has been difficult, especially as Jews represent a small minority of the United States population (under 2.5%). Deciding whether to self-identify, join Jewish groups, speak up when you experience bias or bullying has not been easy. After October 7th, these challenges have grown enormously, making it even harder to want to be outwardly Jewish, or outwardly supporting Israel in any form.
Jewish students are being bullied, shut out of activities and finding little support from their school administrators and teachers and peers, who sadly at times can even be the source of some of this bullying.
This site was put together so that you can see you are not alone. We hope this site will help you find resources to assist you and the other Jewish kids and families deal with this environment in a positive and constructive way.
If you have an experience that you'd like to share anonymously, you can do it here. It can be something about your experience with antisemitism in your school, and it can be ways you and your peers are working to address the antisemitism. We would love to hear about programs you might have created or brought into your school that have helped you deal with the current environment.
We can build community through shared experiences and stories. Share this link with your friends. Come back often to see what's new.
Who am I
My name is Abby Zarkin. I am a first generation American, and daughter of two Holocaust survivors. My parents survived the war while hiding on a Catholic family's farm for two years in Poland, and emigrated to the United States in 1949. My father died at a young 69, but my mother almost reached her 100th birthday before passing away in 2024. She spent the last 25 years of her life travelling across Florida and North Carolina telling her Holocaust story, and sharing her optimism about life and humanity. She always closed her talk with a warning: “Until we stop teaching hate to children, what happened then will continue.” How prophetic.
I've become a local Jewish activist, looking for antisemitism in all its forms and working with a group of volunteers sharing this passion to address it, defeat it, and educate people along the way.
I hope I share some of my mom's optimism. Right now, to honor her memory and my dad's memory, I will do my best to make sure "Never Again" means "NEVER AGAIN."
Thanks to Deb Riegel for creating JEWISHATWORK.COM, a companion site and resource for sharing experiences of antisemitism in the workplace, and inspiring me to do something similar for K-12 families. I admire you and your commitment. Deb, Yasher Koach.
And to D.M. - thank you! Your generosity, love and encouragement made this site possible.
Submit Your Story
All submissions are anonymous unless you choose to share your name here.
Experience Our Stories
Read about other’s experiences with antisemitism in their school and know that you are not alone.
Resources
Resources for parents, students, teachers and administrators.