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Monday, June 20, 2016

For Kids, Donald Trump is the Bogeyman

Trump

The Blogger Kid 2.0's summer art camp asked the kids to design a "scary monster" with clay. Unprompted, several chose to depict Donald Trump. (Our guy made a ghost. But still, Trump fear is real.)

The Southern Poverty Law Center lays it out:

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.

Other students have been emboldened by the divisive, often juvenile rhetoric in the campaign. Teachers have noted an increase in bullying, harassment and intimidation of students whose races, religions or nationalities have been the verbal targets of candidates on the campaign trail.

Educators are perplexed and conflicted about what to do. They report being stymied by the need to remain nonpartisan but disturbed by the anxiety in their classrooms and the lessons that children may be absorbing from this campaign.

Anecdotally, I know the 11 year olds that Blogger Kid 1.0 hangs around with now bring up Trump when they want to invoke something scary. But they're honestly nervous about this. This presidential campaign is causing real distress among kids.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The parents are causing the distress, not Donald Trump.