what does a Donald Trump win mean for everyone?

How is every one addressing student questions about the recent election upset? It is heart breaking thinking of all the little girls in my class who went home on Tuesday night expecting to come to school the next day to celebrate the first female president only to wake up to soul crushing dissapointment. I have used this incident to explain to my children that things don't always work out the way we want and that part of life is picking up the pieces. One of the most difficult topics of discussion in my classroom is addressing the faulty "if Donald Trump wins I am moving to Canada" statement made by many celebrities and activists alike. It pains me to hear my kids ask how they can move to Canada to "escape". I ask them why they want to move to Canada and they say because Miley Cyrus or Ariana Grande said that's their solution. I want to tell my kids that running is not the answer and that if people felt this scared for the country that they are contemplating fleeing, this is when the country needs them the most. Any thoughts?

 

Why are we having a political thread? I know you're probably looking for legitimate answers, but such a thread would get way too biased too quickly.

To give a better answer, they could research just how difficult it is to immigrate to Canada.

 

On Wednesday I gave my students time to reflect and write. My students know that I do not discuss politics with them, but I did answer factual questions about the election process. There was a lot of misinformation. Mostly, my kids wanted to know about my trip to Los Angeles, and talk about plans for playoff football.

 

It's a celebratory mood where I'm from. Not a lot of heartache by either my students or myself, as many rightly see this as a triumph over a biased media. I voted for President Trump, and I can't wait for the inauguration. I wonder if we will watch it in schools the way we did with Obama's?

 

We were actually instructed via two emails from the administration to pretty much keep our mouths shut and to try to keep the kids calm. It's a Utah school, so it wasn't pretty and wouldn't have been pretty either way.

I don't think it's the business of teachers to be celebrating or commiserating either way for students.

 

What a Trump presidency means for America’s public schools (Washington Post article)

"But Trump’s stunning election is likely to mean a clear contrast with some key Obama administration policies, including a vigorous push for federally funded private school vouchers and a downsizing of the Education Department, which has arguably exercised more influence under Obama than at any other point."

In general, it seems that Trump supports charter schools and is against Common Core, although I don't think that education was a big issue of his campaign. It will be interesting to see what the next four years bring.

 

I would make sure you remain neutral, and give just the facts.

My kiddos had a few comments (some students are immigrants), but we focused solely around the election process, talking about how more is accomplished when people come together and are respectful and kind (connecting to our everyday messages in the classroom), and what the results meant in terms of next steps.

As teachers, we have to make sure we don't cross that line - and need to make sure that we're helping them understand what's happening, but not drive them to think in any particular way or portray opinionated thoughts about what the election means.

 

I agree, though privately I checked on some of my minority students (hijabi Muslims, members of the LGBT community, etc.) I am close with to make sure they were feeling safe. There were no major incidents at our school, though there were some at other schools in our district and neighboring districts of minorities being targeted, and those were making the rounds on social media. They appreciated that I checked on them, and indicated that they were sad, but fine.

I don't think teachers should share political views with students, but I do think teachers should check on students if they may be having a rough time.

 

We focused solely on the facts. I was asked several times who I was voting for, but I taught my students that it was impolite to ask. Before election day, I did teach them about the voting process and the electoral college, and when the newly elected person would take office.

 

As many people have noted, this thread is locked because of the concern it is going outside of classroom handling of politics and into politics itself.

 

Closed