Institute Responding to Hate-Motivated Behavior in Schools Introduction Racial tension and violent behavior among students are prevalent in schools today. Despite the fact that many hate-motivated crimes go unreported the number of reported incidents is up. These acts of hatred often represent a much deeper-rooted expression of hostility against a person or property because of race, religion, nationality gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation than we would like to admit. Schools and other institutions need to learn to recognize and address bias-related incidents. Educators must encourage students to speak up when they see or experience something hateful and teachers and students must learn to do something about the problem.
Protected classifications vary from state to state.
A hate crime is a criminal act against a person or property in which the perpetrator chooses the victim because of the victim's real or perceived race, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, gender or ethnicity.