School Makes Lesson of Hate Crime : Education: Mayall Elementary students view second defacement and will attend an assembly to learn more about intolerance.

At a time when some educators might shield their students from a hurtful reminder of the bad things in the world, Principal Barbara Fuller has made sure that her Mayall Elementary School students know all about it.

After vandals defaced the school a second time with blood-red swastikas, satanic symbols and other visages of religious intolerance Sept. 21, Mayall instructed her teachers to walk their students past the large scrawls of spray paint before they could be painted over. And she told them to talk to the 180 or so second- to fifth-graders about the meaning of racial and religious intolerance and how to combat it.

And today, Fuller will gather the students for an assembly so they can discuss the matter with a top Los Angeles Police Department official and an expert on racial hatred and hate groups. The session is mandatory, she said.

Fuller said the aim of the assembly is twofold: to teach students the evils of racial and religious intolerance and to prepare them should they become victims of it themselves.

“I want them to realize what an awful thing had happened. I want to talk about how disgusting it is, and how sad it is,” Fuller said. “I want our children to be vigilant, to see that they have an important part in preventing this.”

After seeing the graffiti last month and recalling the attack in December, Fuller and local PTA President Lisa Keating discussed the matter and calls were made to the San Fernando Valley chapter of the Anti-Defamation League and the LAPD. Fuller said the swastikas were painted four feet high on some walls, and smaller versions were on sidewalks and cafeteria benches.

Deputy Chief Mark Kroeker, who commands the LAPD’s operations in the Valley, confirmed Monday that he will attend the assembly. He sees it as an important opportunity to talk with children when they are so young and impressionable.

Kroeker said the tally of reported hate crimes is down citywide since the same time last year, but up 30% in the Valley. Under these circumstances, he said, he will try to teach students that there are laws to protect them against hate crimes and other acts of intolerance, and to punish the violators of those laws.

Like school officials, Kroeker said it is possible that the graffiti is the work of local teen-agers rather than organized hate groups--especially since the swastikas were painted backward. There are no suspects, he said, and no clues were left at the scene.

Kroeker also commended PTA and school officials for organizing the assembly and the ADL for attending. “It establishes a dialogue with these kids,” he said. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Mary Krasn, director of Valley chapter of the ADL, said she plans to tailor a general program the group teaches to the young students.

“We will talk about the nature of prejudice and how to combat it,” she said. “This is the time you want to reach kids--before they become prone to extremist views, and so they can have the tools to deal with racism and prejudice when they inevitably come into contact with it.

“Unfortunately,” she said, “it’s a fact of life in Los Angeles.”