© Eran Wolkowski
There is violence, and ethnic and racial prejudice in schools today. That's the conclusion drawn by social anthropologist Dr. Idan Yaron after observing a school situated in the center of the country, according to a recent article in TheMarker. In his claim that the school is incapable of coping with such phenomena, he angered its teachers. Judging by their responses, you might think that school in general is an oasis of brotherly love amid a sea of hatred and violence. But it doesn't take an anthropologist to see the phenomena Yaron encounterd at the school in question at others around the country.
A school does not have the power, tools or willingness to confront violence or ethnic and racial prejudice, despite the damage they incur. Schools are not relevant anymore. They cannot cope with what really troubles students. Teachers do not have answers to the questions being asked today, and even if they do − they are afraid to give them. Teachers want quiet. They don't want to tick anyone off. Neither the Education Ministry nor the students, and certainly not the parents, who prefer to know nothing.
Teachers' authority is crumbling, and parental authority is on the wane. These are being replaced by the Internet and the street. The street bolsters the violence, and ethnic and racial prejudices − and the Internet also contributes its share. Teachers do not have the capacity to cope and are left behind in the dust. They give up, they shirk responsibility. So what is left for schools to do? To educate? But education requires an ability to cope with the world. And today students know the world better than their teachers.
Teachers and parents can whine all day about the poor quality of information that children get from television and the Web, but there are no lessons in school about "good TV." Meanwhile, teachers just hear the word Facebook and faint straight away.
Last week, in an article in TheMarker, a junior-high school principal suggested that Arabic language studies be discontinued because there is "steady pressure from parents and students" to do so. Please note: An educator is proposing that the language spoken by some 20 percent of his country's population not be taught because of "steady pressure from parents and children"? Apparently, the pressure is working. Soon the schools will do away with literature, history and Bible classes because of it. Why waste money on these things? Everything is available on the Web after all.
There are no expectations of school any longer. The expectation that a person will come out of it today better prepared for life are akin to the expectation that a driver will emerge from a defensive-driving course better prepared for the road.
The society of children in school is a reflection of society as a whole. According to Yaron, the former is a divided society whose factions maintain relations of hatred, ignorance and racism vis-a-vis others. At the school he surveyed, students fell into the categories of "Ashkenazim" and "Mizrahim," but that division did not reflect the ethnic origin of the students per se, rather their social image. Ashkenazim at that school are the good students, who are also identified with leftists and Arabs. Mizrahim are the weak students, who are also perceived as right-wingers and identified with the poor and with the traditional-religious Jewish community.
These two main groups each coalesce at school , but will continue to exist even afterward. Their makeup will stay virtually the same, but the emphases will change. In elections, the right-wingers will compete with the leftists; on the street, Ashkenazim will vie with Mizrahim. The emphases will be different, but the tools will be familiar: violence, and ethnic and racial prejudice.
With violence and racism you cannot negotiate, but it is easy to wage wars, and a war there shall be. It will not be over principles, but over money. The poor will rise up against the rich. The former will not only fight the latter, but also anyone identified with them: Ashkenazim, leftists, the educated, the secular − and along the way the Arabs, too.
Is such a conflict inevitable? No. Missiles from Iran, chemical weapons from Syria and Qassam rockets from Gaza could preclude domestic confrontations. Missiles do not distinguish between Ashkenazim and Mizrahim, or between poor and rich. Missiles will force everyone to crowd together in the bomb shelter and not direct their hatred, ignorance and racism at each other but rather at the Arabs.
Actually, you don't actually need missiles. All the talk of missiles is enough. It is important to stress: "talk," not "talks." Talks scare us. When talks between the Americans and Iranians progress, we Israelis get scared. Fine, Go ahead and conduct talks, but at least let them be pointless − like with Palestinians.
We want the world to simmer over a low flame. We need an enemy that's constantly on the verge of erupting. We need the Iranian threat and Islamic terror and the Hamas-ian aggressor. Otherwise we will yet find ourselves (God forbid) confronting ourselves. Ashkenazim versus Mizrahim, secular versus religious, and rightists versus leftists.
My friend M. heard me out on this subject politely, but could not hide his impatience. It was evident that a serious question weighed on him and he wished to free himself of its heavy burden. Yes, yes − he at last interjected: Right-wingers against left-wingers, Mizrahim against Ashkenazim, we've heard all of that before. But perhaps you can tell me something that has been troubling me for many years: Why does Sara go abroad with him every time? What business does she have being in New York last week?
My friend M. grew silent for a moment and then said that he does not envy our prime minister, that it is probably not easy for him to be with her, and that this is certainly not the time to harp on Ashkenazim vs. Mizrahim.
And, yes SOTT has changed the title of this article. I don't think it would have been published with the one they gave it, lol.