A 12-year-old student's antisemitic harassment led to the resignation of a Jewish social studies teacher at Nessacus Regional Middle School last week. The student allegedly made numerous Nazi jokes and gave the teacher a scary drawing of Adolf Hitler. She is now charged with a misdemeanor of criminal harassment.
The events, which started in February when Morrison Robblee, 25, revealed his Jewish heritage to his sixth-grade students, have been getting worse, he told the Berkshire Eagle. A troubling succession of things happened after that, and Robblee eventually resigned.
Massachusetts Middle School Teacher Resigns Amid Antisemitic Harassment
On one occasion, the student called Robblee homophobic epithets in front of the class. Robblee expelled the offending student from class after the incident. According to the article in the New York Post, following that, school officials set up a "restorative circle," where Robblee, the student, and an administrator could discuss the situation.
The student, according to Robblee, had been silent the whole meeting, which he saw as a warning sign of upcoming harassment. He said he thought this stillness should have been a clue that this wasn't going to be a peaceful resolution. On one occasion, the student called Robblee homophobic epithets in front of the class. Robblee expelled the offending student from class after the incident. Following that, school officials set up a "restorative circle," where Robblee, the pupil, and an administrator could discuss the situation.
The student, according to Robblee, had been silent the whole meeting, which he saw as a warning sign of upcoming harassment. He said he thought this stillness should have been a clue that this wasn't going to be a peaceful resolution. Things took a depressing turn in April. Robblee, who observed Passover, came to school wearing a yarmulke, a skullcap typically worn by religious Jews. More offensive remarks were made in return by the student.
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Gruesome Sketch and Other Violating Gestures of the Student
According to the Insider, Robblee received a gruesome sketch from the pupil a few days after he was put in detention. It showed Hitler standing over a dead person with the label "Jew" while surrounded by swastikas and gas canisters.
The student, who was eventually disciplined and removed from his class, seemed motivated to make his point, according to Robblee, who told the publication about him. Despite the dismissal, Robblee claimed that the harassment continued, with the student making obscene jokes about the Holocaust in the hallway, which also included the ones about gas chambers, and sending him derogatory letters about his instruction. According to the news source, the student is accused of criminal harassment, a misdemeanor, and his identity has been protected because he is a child.
Superintendent Leslie Blake-Davis has spoken on the district's procedure for managing incidents of bigotry and hate following the departure of a Jewish teacher from Nessacus Regional Middle School who had been the target of antisemitic harassment. According to the story in Daily Mail, due to confidentiality, Blake-Davis was unable to speak about the particular instances involving the sixth-grade student and the teacher, Morrison Robblee, but she was able to describe the district's typical practices in cases of bias or hatred.
The district's initial response, according to her, is to remove the accused kid from the classroom setting while a due process inquiry is underway but still ensuring the continuation of their educational services.
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