An MHS freshman sent two anti-semitic memes in early October. They were reported to MHS Principal Shanon Fierro by an MHS parent. The identity of the freshman who sent the memes is unknown.

“A parent brought to my attention that their child had been in a group chat that had included some anti-semitic memes,” Fierro said. “The parent told me about them, told me that her child didn’t really understand them.”

Fierro said that she joined MHS World Cultures teacher Ken Brown to discuss the memes with his freshman World Cultures class.

“Mr. Brown has had pretty extensive training in the teaching of the Holocaust and was prepared to specifically address and do some more in-depth teaching about the content of the meme,” Fierro said.

Brown spent the majority of his 7th period class discussing the memes from a historical perspective, according to Fierro.

“[There are] memes that are out there that are cartoon characters but have potentially multiple layers of meaning or prejudice or hate or history,” Fierro said.

Fierro discussed the importance of using social media appropriately in a broader sense, before talking specifically about the memes with the freshmen World Cultures class.

“I didn’t have information on who sent it and wasn’t going to spend my time playing investigator because the person was in the room,” Fierro said. “All ten of our freshmen were present that day so I know who needed to hear it, heard it.”

Fierro said that she and Brown took the educational stance when addressing the memes to not only denounce the memes themselves, but to teach the bystanders who did not report the memes how to react.

“If hate is met by a lot of love and education and rebuttal then I think that’s the message that wins,” Fierro said,

Fierro has been open with the community, discussing the incident with the Parents’ Club, PUSD and MHS administration, the Jewish Student Union (JSU), and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).

“I reported this as a hate incident, on their tracker, on their website,” Fierro said.

Fierro went to a JSU meeting to discuss the incident with the club. Junior and JSU co-president Edward Marcus said this was unexpected because the students had not received an email.

“Sadly, I’m not extremely surprised, especially since it occurred within [the] freshman class,” Marcus said.

Marcus said that as kids get older they become more mature and are less likely to spread hateful messages.

“We’re expecting, 15 year olds— in this case it was 14 year olds mainly— to be able to navigate complex messaging crafted by people who spend a lot of time thinking about the right way to put together a hateful or sinister message targeted at 14 year olds,” Fierro said.

According to the ADL, the number of anti-semitic incidents in the US increased by ninety-nine percent from 2015 to 2017 with a slight decrease in 2018.

Fierro said she doesn’t think there has been an increase in general misuse of technology over her three years of teaching at MHS, but the platforms and therefore forms of misuse have changed.

“It’s a constant ongoing challenge for young people: the appropriate use of cell phones, texting, social media, memes—the whole thing,” Fierro said.

According to the ADL, ninety percent of social media-using teens who have witnessed online cruelty say they have ignored mean behavior, and thirty-five percent have done so frequently.

A letter from the PHS administration sent on Oct. 29 said, “Our students are exposed to an online world saturated with content and messaging in direct conflict with the values and expectations of their offline world; that is, the Piedmont community. This has produced a fundamental disconnect between what is ‘funny’ or ‘a joke’ and what is harmful and hateful.”

A parent education night will be held on November 12 from 7-9 pm with the purpose of educating parents on social media use and meme culture, according to the letter.

Junior Haydn Wolfers said she doesn’t think PHS has made progress towards reducing anti-semitism at the school.

“I don’t feel like I’ve seen an increase [in misuse of technology]. I think modes of technology and what’s available to you as young people just continues to like mushroom cloud, expand,” Fierro said.

According to the ADL, anti-semitic incidents take place in almost every state but are increased in states with larger Jewish populations.

The anti-semitic incidents in California, New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts combined accounted for more than half of the total incidents in 2018.

“Being Jewish, you have a lot of power and you represent a whole community,” Marcus said.

Marcus said it is important for both Jewish and non-Jewish students to speak out against anti-semitism and hate in general.

“It means so much to me when a non-Jew goes to JSU because they’re choosing to not be ignorant, in the sense that they’re learning,” Marcus said.

Fierro said that everyone has a role in a hateful incident and it is important to speak up and talk to a trusted adult when something hateful is sent or viewed.

“If it feels wrong, there’s a good chance it is, trust your gut judgment on that. And when in doubt, don’t post,” Fierro said.