Unfortunately bullying has always been prevalent in our school system but the 2016 presidential race has added a new dimension to schoolyard taunts as a direct result of Republican candidate Donald Trump. According a survey conducted by Southern Poverty Law Center, there has been a significant rise in racism among primary and middle-school children as a result of Trump’s toxic racist rhetoric. The SPL noted, “The campaign is having a profoundly negative effect on children and classrooms. It’s producing an alarming level of fear and anxiety among children of color and inflaming racial and ethnic tensions in the classroom. Many students worry about being deported.” “Students are hearing more hate language than I have ever heard at our school before,” said a high school teacher in Helena, commenting in the survey. The survey’s results are more anecdotal than scientific but that doesn’t mean one should dismiss the results as some of the comments from teachers are alarming. “My students are terrified of Donald Trump,” said one teacher from a middle school with a large population of African-American Muslims. “They think that if he’s elected, all black people will get sent back to Africa.” In North Carolina, a high school teacher said her Latino students, “carry their birth certificates and Social Security cards to school because they are afraid they will be deported.” Probably the most heart breaking is a comment from a Tennessee kindergarten teacher who said a Latino child—told by classmates that he will be deported and trapped behind a wall—asks every day, “Is the wall here yet?” If Trump was asked about these comments and fears of school children, he would probably dismiss it saying that it’s not his fault people are being bullied; however, it is. In the very disappointing interview with Fox News’ Megyn Kelly, he refused to take responsibility for his comments and refuses to acknowledge that his comments have fueled the flames of racism and hate throughout the country. His garbage is now filtering through to our children and fear is now growing in our school. A five-year old child is terrified of being trapped behind a wall because she doesn’t understand the gross stupidity of the Republican candidate's position. Our schools are supposed to be a safe place, a place to learn and discover. The biggest worry a kindergarten student should have is about what toy they are going to play with or what picture they are going to make for their parents, not whether or not they will be deported. We, as a society, need to hold Trump accountable for his garbage rhetoric.
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