Swastikas drawn and coins thrown: This is life for Jewish high school students

In late February, The CJN published a first-person essay by 17-year-old Talia Freedhoff about antisemitism and ignorance at her Ottawa public high school. It wasn't the first time she spoke out about these issues. She's done TV interviews and delivered speeches to school board trustees to try and open the public's eyes about the reality of Jewish student life.

She's had teachers schedule tests on important Jewish holidays and refuse to change the date, even after they were ordered to by the administration. She's heard stories from fellow Jewish students who've had coins thrown at them in hallways and swastikas drawn on their personal belongings. These incidents aren't unique within her circles, either: in 2022, numerous antisemitic incidents have been reported across public schools in Ontario, including in Jewish neighbourhoods in Toronto.

Freedhoff joins The CJN Daily to explain why school boards shouldn't have to wait for Jewish kids to speak out to teach them how to tackle antisemitism.

What we talked about:

• Read "Toronto’s Pleasant Public School is investigating an allegation of antisemitism—following two February incidents elsewhere" at thecjn.ca
• Read "The problem with antisemitism in education isn’t that no one is speaking up, it’s that schools aren’t listening, says Ottawa student Talia Freedhoff" at thecjn.ca

Credits

The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Victoria Redden is the producer. Michael Fraiman is the executive producer. Our theme music is by Dov Beck-Levine. Our title sponsor is Metropia. We're a member of The CJN Podcast Network; find more great Jewish podcasts at thecjn.ca.