As part of the district’s mid-year culture reset beginning this January, Holyoke Public Schools is focusing on building awareness about—and significantly reducing the use of—harmful language that centers on the identities and appearances of specific individuals.
“It is particularly important that we address the use of several specific slurs—including the N-word referencing communities of color, the R-word referencing intellectual ability, and the F-word referencing the LGBTQ+ community—because of the significant and pervasive historical harm that such terms have caused,” said Interim Superintendent Anthony Soto. “Sometimes these words are used in casual, general ways, and sometimes they are directed towards specific individuals. Both types of usage cause significant harm.”
This initiative ties into one of the district’s top priorities this year, which is to establish and strengthen a sense of belonging for all members of our community, as reflected in the district’s equity commitments, including this one: We work intentionally to strengthen the sense of belonging and well-being of students and staff in every school, in every classroom, every day.
“While some who use these terms may not realize the full impact of their words, we know that harmful language truly hurts people,” Mr. Soto said. “Hearing such language—whether as the target or as a bystander—can lead to people feeling like an outcast: isolated, ostracized, and removed from the very community we are looking to create and strengthen. These are not the feelings we want to foster in Holyoke, a city that has historically welcomed people from a wide range of backgrounds, ethnicities, lived experiences, and cultures over hundreds of years. We must work towards eliminating the use of words like these in our community.”
Such efforts are an essential part of the district’s equity commitment to reflect on our own behavior to minimize harm to others, he explained.
“Now that we have returned from the holiday break, our schools are engaging in a mid-year reset that will include age-appropriate social-emotional lessons,” said Executive Director of the Student and Family Experience Steven Moguel. “These lessons and classroom discussions about empathy, harmful language, and the importance of diversity will be tailored to meet the needs and experiences of students at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. We also want our students to understand and embrace the importance of using language that helps keep all community members feeling safe. To support our efforts, we are asking our families to engage in conversations at home around the use of harmful language and how it emotionally and psychologically hurts others.”
The district will continue to use its code of conduct if a person does use harmful language in the future. “We will provide both appropriate outcomes and support to help them understand the harmful impacts of such behavior,” Mr. Soto said. “We know that the change we hope to see requires us to work collectively, in schools, at home, and in our community at large. To support these efforts, we are encouraging families to read this resource prepared by Boston Children’s Hospital, titled “Talking to your child about slurs: When words hurt.”