Nicholas Kristof has a column in today’s New York Times entitled “Donald Trump is Making America Meaner.” He recounts a story from last spring when, in the middle of a high school physics class in a small Oregon town, a group of white students began chanting at their Latino classmates: “Build a wall! Build a Wall!” Kristof continues with a discussion of how Donald Trump is “rending the social fabric” with his “incendiary talk.”
There are an increasing number of stories about students of all ages becoming fearful at school and in their neighborhoods because of threats from their peers — threats that originate from the language used by Donald Trump and his supporters.
The Southern Poverty Law Center has just published a report called “The Trump Effect: The Impact of the Presidential Campaign on Our Nation’s Schools.” They report that, while educators typically use election season to teach about democracy, government, and citizenship, this election is “producing an alarming level of fear and anxiety among children of color and inflaming racial and ethnic tensions in the classroom.” The SPL Center report states that “The gains made by years of anti-bullying work in schools have been rolled back in a few short months.”
I am a newly-retired teacher who has taught anti-bullying lessons, and had firm discussions about proper respect for others with students in the hall. I am concerned for our ethnic and religious minority students as they go back to school this year. I pray that my teacher friends will be able to overcome the prevailing trend and teach our children how to behave respectfully toward everyone.
I also pray that, once this election is over, we will work to repair the social fabric of America — which has been terribly damaged by those who promote hate and fear. May we all work together to build a civil society.
Yes, I have used the three C’s as part of my email signature for many years…Civility, Compassion, Courtesy.