Teaching Tolerance

The teaching of tolerance is not usually part of a school curriculum. But it should be. We live in a hate filled world and with the meteoric rise of social media, it is far too easy to spread vitriol about any individual or group. Fortunately there are organizations out there that have programs and facilities to spread the teaching of tolerance. One such organization is the Museum of Tolerance in New York (MOYNY). Built as an east coast offshoot of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, the museum serves as its educational arm and acts as a global human rights organization that educates to confront hatred, terrorism, and anti-Semitism. The Museum produces the web site Globalhate.com that monitors Internet hate from around the world. Visitors to the museum can participate in interactive activities tat include the “Point of View Diner” which serves as a cyber café that engaged students and adult visitors to vote their opinions on such current issues as bullying, free speech vs. hate speech.

For those teachers in the New York City vicinity, I would strongly recommend a field trip for middle and high school students.  The museum is located at 226 East 42^nd Street in New York. Contact the museum at 212-697-1180.

For those away from the Museum, The Simon Wiesenthal Center has a film division called Moriah Films, which has numerous well-produced films on many of the same topics as the Museum. For more information check out the web site at www.museumoftolerancenewyork.com

c.2015 J. Margolis