Upon being Jewish in the South

A couple years ago we moved from a suburb of NYC to The South. It’s not Deep South but it’s South enough.

At his new school my 16 yo mentioned he was Jewish. We are not observant or religious but it’s part of his identity. He didn’t realize the shit he would get every day. He grew up thinking being Jewish is no big deal, it’s different but common enough. Here, my son is possibly the first Jewish person some of these kids have ever seen in real life. Some of the kids (ones often wearing all camo or american flag clothing) tease him every day. Tease is not the right word. They snap heil hitler signs at him as often as possible. They say things like “Gas, hehe you know all about gas” or other weirdly non-funny holocaust themed jabs. not to mention stuff about space aliens and controlling the media. And of course, his nose.

What would you do in this situation? He knows in his heart that talking to the principal or teachers will get him more attention than he would ever ever want.

This page is a permanent link to the reply below and its nested replies. See all post replies »

Harmonium1923 · 51-55, M

I got some of that growing up, though probably not as bad. I don’t know if I have brilliant advice but to some extent he’ll have to learn that not all offensive nonsense needs to be taken seriously. I mean, teenagers are going to make fun of everyone for something—usually whatever makes them different. Too fat, too skinny, too poor, too rich, too smart, too dumb. If it gets violent or really confrontational, that’s a different story, of course.

I hope it’s clear I’m not saying it’s not an issue. Just that you kind of have to pick your battles and learning to tolerate morons while being the better person is part of growing up.

Fallflower · 46-50, F

@Harmonium1923 He mostly ignores or rolls his eyes, doesn’t engage, and understands they’re morons (mostly uneducated). thank you for this