Howard County human rights officials want to reach out to youth to prevent hate crimes, but working through the school system has proven difficult.
“We would like to do preventative things with students, and we?re not getting full cooperation from the school system,” Mary Campbell, senior investigator in Howard?s Office of Human Rights, told the County Council at a meeting this week. Campbell said a plan last year to have seniors develop a video for students failed amid school concerns about the often harsh language used in hate-bias incidents. Instead, students focused on anti-bullying, which missed the point, she said.
“On one hand, we know the students know these words and terms, and we see them daily, but on the other hand we know the school system feels they can?t sponsor something that uses those words,” Campbell said in an interview.
“We were trying to make it real.”
Schools spokeswoman Patti Caplan said the video program was an “inflammatory approach,” which school officials said was “inappropriate.”
Instead, several avenues are available, such as peer mediation and guidance counselors, she said. But the Office of Human Rights wants something more institutionalized to target middle schoolers, Campbell said. A “significant portion” of hate-bias incidents are vandalism, and vandalism tends to be carried out by youth, said police spokeswoman Pfc. Jennifer Reidy.
Students are faced with so many academic priorities, that little time is available to address social issues, Caplan said.
Councilwoman Courtney Watson, D-District 1, suggested the office consider a voluntary seminar parents and children could attend together.
Human Rights Administrator C. Vernon Gray said he is sympathetic to the demands on the school system, but he plans to work with school officials. “We want to start there,” he said.
