LA QUINTA -- New tolerance classes are coming to a local high school where some students participated in an Internet "Beat the Jew" game, in which losers were subjected to "incineration" or "enslavement."
Seven seniors at La Quinta High School in Riverside County were disciplined in May of this year for playing the game.
In the game, "Jews" are taken, blindfolded, by car to a place off campus and have to make their way back to base while pursued by "Nazis," said Sherri Johnstone, assistant superintendent for personnel at the Desert Sands Unified School District.
Many students said they didn't know the name of the game when they played or didn't think about the insensitive nature of it and later apologized, according to Superintendent Sharon McGehee
Organizers had put up a Facebook page announcing the game, and it was "friended" by some 40 students, of which seven showed up to play in a campus parking lot, Johnstone said.
No one was hurt.
Now, the school is implementing a new tolerance curriculum.
"Administrators of the La Quinta High School and Desert Sands Unified School District have accepted Jewish Federation of Palm Springs and Desert Area's offer for Anti-Bias Education, to be delivered by the Anti-Defamation League's (ADL) "A World of Difference" Institute," said Bruce Landgarten, chief executive of the federation, in a statement. "We applaud the Unified Districts for their commitment in this issue and appreciate ADL's partnership in this project."
Other school districts in the area will also get the tolerance education, Landgarten said.
Seven seniors at La Quinta High School in Riverside County were disciplined in May of this year for playing the game.
Many students said they didn't know the name of the game when they played or didn't think about the insensitive nature of it and later apologized, according to Superintendent Sharon McGehee
Organizers had put up a Facebook page announcing the game, and it was "friended" by some 40 students, of which seven showed up to play in a campus parking lot, Johnstone said.
No one was hurt.
Now, the school is implementing a new tolerance curriculum.
"Administrators of the La Quinta High School and Desert Sands Unified School District have accepted Jewish Federation of Palm Springs and Desert Area's offer for Anti-Bias Education, to be delivered by the Anti-Defamation League's (ADL) "A World of Difference" Institute," said Bruce Landgarten, chief executive of the federation, in a statement. "We applaud the Unified Districts for their commitment in this issue and appreciate ADL's partnership in this project."
Other school districts in the area will also get the tolerance education, Landgarten said.
