People make it sound like it's against the law! These behaviors are against the law!

Every year thousands of Americans are victims of racial harassment and/or ethnic intimidation. Some are even victims of the most serious form of harassment, called hate crimes. Unfortunately, schools are all too often involved in these incidents, both as victims and as the ones who commit the offenses.

As schools across our country become more racially and ethnically diverse, this issue is more important than ever.

District 11 defines it as oral, written, graphic or physical behavior relating to race, color, national origin or ethnicity of another, which:

1. Creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive environment for learning
2. Unreasonably interferes with or disrupts educational performance
3. Unreasonably interferes with a student receiving or benefitting from District benefits or opportunities