The 10th grade of the Geretsried middle school received an award in Berlin: the prize for discrimination-sensitive reporting from the Foundation Remembrance, Responsibility and Future. The 60-page issue of “MS Voice” has a green cover with a red hand and the words “Stop Racism.” In it, the young people examine hate speech, right-wing extremism, and the Black Lives Matter movement, among other topics.
Student Lana El Rifai reports on her own experiences with everyday racism, for example in job interviews: “They don’t expect me to have this articulation or these language skills.” Her classmate Benedikt Lempart sees the roots of racism in colonialism and slavery, but also emphasizes progress. The class researched specifically for right-wing extremist content on social networks under the guidance of their teacher Kinga Gürlebeck. “If you scroll a bit on TikTok, you quickly find relevant users,” says David Zulicek.
The competition jury praised the winners, saying they show “how attentively young editorial teams observe their surroundings.” Gürlebeck not only organized a writing workshop with author Nevfel Cumart but also linked the assignments to the students’ everyday lives. The project was also fun, she says. The students are drawing personal consequences: Benedikt wants to actively contradict anyone who makes racist remarks in the future. Paul has found a role model in Sophie Scholl, “because she decided to speak her mind despite the great risk.”
Source: www.sueddeutsche.de
