A couple of years ago, my mom was on the phone with my aunt and her expression went from happy to angry in seconds. My immediate thought was, “What happened?!”

Mom finished her conversation and then took me into another room. She told me that a boy in my cousin Gracie’s middle school class drew a Hitler mustache on his face and did the Nazi salute.

I was in shock. Even at such a young age, I knew how disappointing this was. A million questions rushed through my head. Why would someone do this? Why didn’t the teacher stop the boy? How could anyone think this was okay? I was feeling so many emotions inside me. I started to cry, and so did my mom.

I went to bed feeling afraid and scared, but most of all, angry. This person probably didn’t even care about what he’d done. But the worst part of it all was that when my cousin and her friends went to the principal, he barely did anything about it. Of course, he disciplined the boy, but he didn’t get expelled, suspended, or really get in that much trouble. That made me even angrier. How could someone do something so horrible and then act like it was just a normal day? From then on, I started wearing the Jewish Star necklace I’d gotten for Hanukkah. I was proud of my Judaism and didn’t want anyone to think they could disrespect me, my religion or my ancestors. Nobody should get to tear you down because of who you are.

Frankie Rosen, age 12, Oakwood School