EDITORIAL: Kids aren’t pawns for Middle East protests

Published Sep 20, 2024  •  Last updated 0 minutes ago  •  2 minute read

A participant in Wednesday's Grassy Narrows protest shouts anti-Israel slogans into a megaphone while TDSB middle school students participate in the rally a part of a board-sanctioned field trip. Photo by Submitted

The recent incident in which a group of students from Toronto District School Board reportedly ended up in a pro-Palestinian protest has wider implications for this country than simply bad judgment on the part of a teacher.

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This week, as part of an effort to teach children about Indigenous issues and civil rights, students from a middle school went on a field trip in order to “observe” a demonstration by Indigenous leaders from Grassy Narrows First Nation, to teach them about civic engagement.

The protest was overtaken by pro-Palestinian demonstrators. Photographs emerged of students apparently not just observing the protest, but taking part in it.

Parents raised concerns about the field trip before it took place. At least one kept a child home. That’s understandable. Protests can turn very ugly very quickly and parents, quite reasonably, don’t want their children caught in a melee.

It’s also fair to ask where this fits in the curriculum. Provincial education ministries have guidelines about what’s taught. Schools have strict rules about who can come into the classroom to speak. How were those requirements met?

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Grassy Narrows has had a decades-long issue with mercury poisoning in its water. It’s laudable an educator might want to raise those issues in the classroom, whether from a historical, environmental or social studies point of view. The way to do so is to invite someone approved by the school principal into the classroom to engage with students about their issues.

The broader issue here is how the pro-Palestinian movement has overtaken domestic causes and concerns.

By piggybacking onto the Grassy Narrows demonstration, Hamas supporters are silencing the voices of Indigenous people. They’ve done the same thing with Pride parades, where the aim seems to be to take the focus away from the LGBTQ community and put the spotlight on the rights of Palestinians. Pride organizers would do well to consider that Gaza is considered one of the most dangerous places in the world to be gay.

Ontario Education Minister Jill Dunlop posted on X that she was “deeply concerned” by the incident and is asking TDSB to conduct a thorough review.

It’s the least the board can do. The board must explain to parents why their children became pawns in a Middle East dispute.

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