EDUCATION
HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATION PROGRAMS
Youth HEAR is strongly focused on the role we can play in improving Holocaust education in schools. What sets Youth HEAR’s High School programs apart from others is that all content is developed and delivered by young adult teachers and educators.
In 2024, we launched a two-part program aimed at training students to be upstanders, not bystanders. The launch, hosted by Cranbrook School, was attended by 75 students from both Jewish and non-Jewish day schools. Using the Pyramid of Hate and the Holocaust as a case study, the program highlights the dangers of unchecked discrimination and hatred.
The program helps students understand why and how the Holocaust occurred, instilling in them the need to identify and call out antisemitism. The second part of the program explores the ways diverse communities in Australia have experienced discrimination, racial profiling, vilification and exclusion.
Throughout the program, students engage in resilience training and guidance from our volunteer educators to help them convert the lessons they are learning into their everyday lives.
This program empowers students to recognise the part they can play in combating hate and becoming effective upstanders as young adults and through their lives. After the program, students create projects to educate their peers on standing up to hate and fostering social cohesion, with support from Youth HEAR and their school.
With more resources, we aim to run the program multiple times each term, reaching 80 students per program. We want to expand the program nationwide, engage with schools across the country, and empower more students to take on an active role in promoting inclusivity and calling out hate.
“We learnt that in the face of hatred, rather than being a bystander or worse, part of the problem, that we have the power to become up-standers in society. That’s why it’s called Youth HEAR, as the young generations are in the position to really make change in the world.”
“This experience has left a profound impact on me, deepening my understanding of the significance of commemorating historical atrocities and the importance of fostering dialogue to promote unity and empathy.”