From homeroom to hate: How Jewish students are facing a new kind of pressure in public schools

Fox News

06-08-2025

For most teenagers, the first day of school is filled with a familiar cocktail of nerves and excitement.
Who's in your classes? Will you like your teachers and the subjects? Is your locker anywhere near your best friend's? It's the stuff of adolescence—the drama of group chats, homecoming, AP exams and figuring out where you belong.
But for Jewish students in public schools across America, a different question now looms: Is it safe to be visibly Jewish here?
Since Oct. 7 2023, and in truth long before, a slow-creeping shadow has been cast over what should be ordinary, even joyful, school experiences. The rise in antisemitism across the country hasn't spared hallways, classrooms or cafeterias. What once might've been a passive comment about someone "looking Jewish" has escalated to swastikas scrawled on desks, Holocaust jokes traded on social media and Jewish students being told to "go back to Israel" — even if they've never been there — or that they are "genocide supporters."
The pressure is relentless. Imagine studying for a math test while overhearing someone at the next table claiming the Holocaust was exaggerated. Picture walking into school wearing a Star of David necklace and feeling eyes on you — not with admiration, but with suspicion, judgment or open hostility. These aren't abstract fears. They are lived realities reported in schools from New York to California, from Florida to Illinois.
In a world where students are already carrying the invisible weight of anxiety, academic stress and social pressure, Jewish teens are carrying one more burden: fear.
And it's not just physical safety — it's also emotional and identity-based. Students who once proudly wore their Judaica or talked about their summer at Jewish camp now wonder if it's safer to be silent. They wrestle with whether to speak up when Israel comes up in class discussions, knowing they might be met with ignorance at best and outright venom at worst. Some are even advised by well-meaning adults to "just keep a low profile."
But silence has never been the Jewish response to injustice. And thankfully, many students are refusing to shrink themselves.
Extracurricular clubs like the Jewish Student Union, a program of NCSY, are taking root in public middle and high schools across the country, creating spaces where Jewish teens can gather, support one another and learn how to respond with dignity and courage. Organizations like the ADL are providing schools with training and resources to recognize and combat antisemitism. And parents, educators and allies are beginning to realize that this isn't just a "Jewish problem." It's a societal one.
What's at stake isn't just Jewish student safety. It's the soul of the American public school system — one that is supposed to serve as a beacon of pluralism, inclusion and equal opportunity. A place where students of all backgrounds can thrive not despite who they are, but because of it.
For Jewish students, the goal isn't to be seen as political actors or lightning rods for controversy. It's to be kids. To worry about SATs and science fairs. To laugh with friends during lunch. To wonder if their crush is going to the same party. And yes, to wear their Star of David without fear.
Schools must rise to this moment. Administrators need to treat antisemitism with the same urgency as any other form of hate. Teachers must be trained. Offhand comments must be challenged. And Jewish students must be reminded, over and over, that they are not alone.
Because when a 14-year-old walks into homeroom, the only thing they should worry about is whether they remembered their homework — not whether they'll be targeted for their heritage.
We owe them that much.