Level: Grades 8 to 10

Overview

Learning Outcomes

The students will:

• understand Canadian law as it relates to the spreading of hate messages
  
  
• recognize the blatant and subtle ways in which hatred is promoted in society
  
  
• recognize the ways in which hatred may be promoted on the Internet
  
  
• acknowledge their own responsibility to take action when they encounter hate
  
  
• articulate their own attitudes towards hatred
  
  
• understand the importance of authenticating online information
  
  
• develop strategies to authenticate online information

Preparation and Materials

Photocopy student handouts:

• Teaching Zack to Think 
  
  
• Thinking About What We’ve Found 
  
  
• Hate Propaganda and Hate Crime

Procedure

Class Discussion

Ask students:

• Is spreading hatred illegal in Canada? (The answer is yes: the Criminal Code of Canada, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms the Canadian Human Rights Act, the Broadcasting Act and the Immigration Act all address hate mongering.)
  
  
• Are hate crimes always easy to identify?
  
  
• List some of the more blatant ways in which certain groups promote hatred. (Examples might include: hateful leaflets, hate graffiti, recorded telephone messages inciting hatred against a group, posters depicting distorted images of a group, public speeches promoting hatred against an individual or group, hate messages on the Internet.)
  
  
• List some of the more subtle ways in which hatred may be promoted. (Answers might include the use of “othering,” where people are marginalized and made to appear “different” from the rest of us. Bias may be used to provide only one perspective on an issue. Perpetuation of stereotypes, based on generalizations about whole groups of people, can also fuel misconceptions. The use of humor – where animosity is justified by the idea that it’s “only a joke” is another common form of subtle hatred.)
  
  
• Distribute the pamphlet Hate Propaganda and Hate Crime. Discuss the main points with students.

Hate and the Internet

• Why might the Internet be an appealing medium for hate mongers? (Anyone can publish their views online – easily, inexpensively and fairly anonymously; there are few “gatekeepers” to monitor what’s put up; there’s a perception that Web sites can’t easily be found by the law.)
  
  
• Who's spreading hate online?
  
  
  • According to the American Anti-Defamation League, the main hate mongers on the Net include:
    
    
  • extremists who are seeking credibility
    
    
  • Identity Adherents (various groups belonging to a pseudo-religious movement that promotes racism and anti-Semitism)
    
    
  • KKK members
    
    
  • Neo-Nazis
    
    
  • Racist skinheads
    
    
  • Self-proclaimed "churches" (such as the anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church and the World Church of the Creator – one of the fastest growing hate groups in the U.S.)
    
    
• Who’s most likely to be targeted online? (The most frequent types of hate found on the Internet are fueled by racism, anti-Semitism and homophobia. Women, people with disabilities, people from various religious backgrounds, immigrants, visible minorities and even medical doctors are also targeted by hate on the Internet. The "hit list" doesn't stop there, though. Anybody can be targeted.)
  
  
• Have any of you encountered hateful material online? What was it? What did you do about it?

Class Activities

Activity One: Taking Action

• If computers are available, have students visit MNet's Responding to Online Hate section to explore the various ways in which they can take action against hate on the Internet.

Activity Two: Confirming Online Information

It’s easy to spot blatant forms of hate. However, organizations that monitor hate on the Internet have noticed that hate groups are becoming increasingly sophisticated in spreading their messages. A recent example includes a Web site that appeared to be a tribute site to Martin Luther King –produced by a white supremacist organization. Although they never mentioned “race,” the purpose of the site was to discredit Dr. King and his work. Another Web site uses the cloak of “Canadian nationalism” as a way to make disparaging remarks about immigrants.

Luckily, the Internet contains lots of tools that can help you determine the credibility of what you find online. The following activity features the true story of a high school student who got taken in by a revisionist Web site, and information about what you can do to make sure that the same thing doesn’t happen to you!

• Distribute Teaching Zack to Think to students.
  
  
• Once they’ve read the scenario, brainstorm strategies Zak could have used to authenticate the information he found.
  
  
• Distribute Thinking About What We’ve Found and review the suggested strategies with students.
  

Remind students that these techniques are helpful tools for authenticating any online information – not just material that may be biased or hateful.

Evaluation

• Group summaries
  
• Class participation

Responding to Online Hate

Hate on the Internet: a response guide for educators and families