Campaign Rhetoric Creating Fear, Bullying in School Children

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Campaign Rhetoric Creating Fear, Bullying in School Children

April 18th, 2016

Awake Goy

The “Trump Effect” is having a negative impact on students.

A recent survey conducted by Teaching Tolerance and published by the Southern Poverty Law Center focused on the effect of the 2016 presidential campaign on school children. The study revealed some alarming results: It showed that students from preschool through high school are aware of the tone, rhetoric, and catchphrases of the current race for the white house and concluded that the campaign is having an extremely negative effect on the attitude and behavior of a significant number of school children. Related below are some excerpts from the major findings of the study.

More than 2/3 of the teachers reported that students have expressed concerns or fears about what might happen to them or their families after the election. Latino students at a North Carolina high school carry birth certificates and Social Security cards to school because they are afraid they will be deported. A Latino kindergartener in Tennessee – told by classmates that he will be deported and trapped behind a wall – asks every day, “Is the wall here yet?” Some Muslim students think that if Donald Trump becomes president, they will have microchips implanted under their skin. Black children fear that they will be deported to Africa or that slavery will be reinstated. Students from second grade to high school were observed crying in class.

More than 1/3 of the respondents have observed an increase in anti-Muslim or anti-immigrant sentiment. Some children are using the word “Trump” as a taunt as they gang up on others. Muslim children are being called terrorist or ISIS or bomber. A fifth grader told a Muslim student the he was supporting Trump because [Trump] was going to kill all of the Muslims if he became president. Many students believe all Muslims are the same and all Muslims want to kill them.

More than half of those responding have seen an increase in uncivil political discourse. There is an increase in use of the n-word as a slur, even among very young children. At an all-white school in Wisconsin “dirty Mexican” has become a common insult—Before election season it was never heard. Students engage in name-calling and make inflammatory statements toward each other, then claim they are “just saying what everyone else is thinking.” A lot of students at a high school in New Hampshire think “we should kill any and all people we do not agree with.”

High levels of fear and anxiety were observed among some children of color who see Trump as a “rich racist who hates them”. The study also indicated that certain children are more inclined to bully, harass, and intimidate students whose race, religion or nationalities have been the verbal targets of candidates on the campaign trail.

The survey was conducted March 23 – April 2, 2016. Almost 2,000 K-12 teachers responded to the survey and together submitted over 5,000 comments.