Notebook was found with the words “Hitler Rocks!”.

After swastikas began turning up three weeks ago at an elite private middle school in the Bronx, administrators decided to inform their sixth-graders about the symbol. Unfortunately, they focused mainly on it as a symbol of peace in some cultures and completely neglected to mention the Holocaust, according to the New York Post.

One parent said that Jewish students have felt unsafe since the images began popping up at Ethical Culture Fieldston School (tuition $45,100 a year). And not just the swastikas – a notebook reportedly was found with the words “Hitler Rocks!” scrawled on the front. Sounds like the students there need to be educated about Hitler too.

Administrators decided to address the apparent anti-Semitism by holding a grade-wide meeting. So far, so good. But parents say that the teachers spent nearly 12 of the 15 minutes on a PowerPoint presentation on how the swastika was still considered a sacred symbol in other cultures, while only briefly mentioning its centrality to Nazism from the 1920s onward. School officials never once mentioned the Holocaust, a parent reported.

“It’s a failure of an institution to educate,” one parent said:

“Teachers and administrators were calling for a town hall meeting, but instead, they chose to do just sixth grade… Some of the teachers are really irate. It’s kind of a hate crime and a crime against all of the community, and not to address it is horrible.”

The Post has more:

Despite parents’ allegations that at least eight of the Nazi symbols had been seen on campus, school spokeswoman Meredith Halpern would confirm only that one had been drawn in art class. But she refused to call it a swastika – and instead said that the student “drew a symbol that represents peace.” She added that the art teacher had approached the child and told him that the image could also mean hate to some people.

Duh.

“The student was unaware of that meaning and promptly erased that image from the artwork,” said Halpern.

Halpern also claimed that the presentation for the sixth-graders was meant to “educate them about the history of this symbol” – although it failed to educate them fully about Nazism and the Holocaust. Kind of a major thing to overlook.

“The adults in our community understand the horrific context of this symbol and our responsibility to teach our students what this image evokes,” Halpern reassured. “At ECFS we have zero tolerance for any actions, including speech, that violate our humanist philosophy.”

http://www.truthrevolt.org/news/swastikas-mean-peace-private-school-tells-students