ADL Provides Bullying Prevention Programs to Local Synagogues

  • April 8, 2015

During the month of March, ADL sent A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE® Institute facilitators to join the communities at Temple Sinai of Glendale and Temple Aliyah of Woodland Hills to provide Becoming An Ally bullying prevention workshops.

At Temple Sinai of Glendale, facilitators led the ally-building program with students in the temple’s religious school before providing the educator-level version of the program to the Temple’s education staff and clergy. Following those programs, the Facilitators provided training to the students’ parents and families so that all stakeholders involved in preventing and responding to bullying could receive this important information.  It was particularly impactful to use activities and resources from ADL’s initiative “Click Responsibly: The Jewish Community’s Response to Cyberbullying,” which was developed here in ADL’s Pacific Southwest Region in conjunction with the Builders of Jewish Education and the Board of Rabbis of Southern California.

When asked about the two most important things they learned at the training, here is what Temple Sinai’s students had to say:

“Cyberbullying hurts just as much as physical bullying hurts and there is a difference between tattling and reporting.”

“You should be careful about what you put on the internet and don’t let cyberbullying bother you, it only makes it worse.”

When asked about the most important takeaways from the workshop, here is what Temple Sinai’s educators found most valuable:

“The importance of asking questions when things arise to clarify what people mean by certain comments or behavior, recognizing there is no one answer to problems that come up—it requires flexibility and freedom to experiment with different approaches, and it’s a continual process of planting seeds and returning again to the issues on an ongoing basis.”

“Being a target does not mean you cannot be an ally too, the 5th graders learned so much today, and cyberbullying is dangerous and needs to be stopped.”

ADL’s A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE® Institute also provided the Becoming An Ally program with a focus on Jewish values to middle school students at Temple Aliyah of Woodland Hills as part of its “Be A Mensch Week.”

Click here to access ADL’s new page of resources for parents, families and caregivers.  ADL is proud to partner with Jewish communal institutions to offer these critical programs and looks forward to working with more temples and religious schools.  To learn more about ADL’s A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE® Institute programs and how they can be customized to your specific community’s needs, contact Project Director Dave Reynolds at dreynolds@adl.org or (310) 446-4234.