A new article from the Washington Post explores how Trump’s rhetoric is being weaponized in American schools.
Since Trump’s rise to the nation’s highest office, his inflammatory language — often condemned as racist and xenophobic — has seeped into schools across America. Many bullies now target other children differently than they used to, with kids as young as 6 mimicking the president’s insults and the cruel way he delivers them.
The Post reviewed news stories and used survey results to track incidents since 2016.
Although many hateful episodes garnered coverage just after the election, The Post found that Trump-connected persecution of children has never stopped. Even without the huge total from November 2016, an average of nearly two incidents per school week have been publicly reported over the past four years. Still, because so much of the bullying never appears in the news, The Post’s figure represents a small fraction of the actual total.
The Post does note that children have been victimized because of their support of Trump, but not at the same frequency.
I encourage everyone to read the article. There are some truly appalling and depressing accounts of students being harassed with Trump rhetoric.
What is everyone’s take on this? Is anyone actually surprised that Trump’s rhetoric has trickled down into our schools? Are we surprised children are weaponizing his words to bully and harass other children, some as young as 6 years old?
Is this what Trump supporters wanted? Did they not expect this to happen? When you elect a troll, it seeps in to the culture. It infests everything, even our children. So congratulations. We’re creating a generation of children emboldened by the hate Trump spouts on a daily basis.
What I find so outstanding, is the response from the White House about this. It’s truly removed from reality.
Asked about Trump’s effect on student behavior, White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham noted that first lady Melania Trump — whose “Be Best” campaign denounces online harassment — had encouraged kids worldwide to treat one another with respect.
What a bunch of hooey. It amounts to nothing more than a collection of anecdotal evidence and uncorroborated complaints. Oh you looked at news stories to find out how often it was happening? Lol, which story do you think the press has more interest in publishing?
Emboldening them? If I say illegal immigrants are here illegally and should be deported and some kid uses my statement to threaten or bully a kid who is a citizen, that is on that kid, not me. Now if I was going around saying we should deport people we think look foreign, you would have a point.
Irrelevant. Being President doesn’t change saying “I think illegal immigrants should be deported” into “I think kids should bully American kids who look Mexican.”
It is not “imitating Trump’s rhetoric” to say illegals are here illegally and should be deported. The laws making that the case long pre-date his tenure in office.
Didn’t say that. He is a childish, bullying jackass but if he ever said kids should bully American kids who they think look foreign on immigration, I certainly missed it.
