COLUMBUS – The tone of the presidential campaign is creating uncomfortable conversations in high school classrooms.
With the election focused on the antics, accusations and scandals involving the candidates, some civics instructors say they’ve been faced with questions that typically would not be topics of conversation in their classrooms. Licking Heights High School American History teacher Gina Daniels says recently released videos of Republican candidate Donald Trump making lewd comments about women led to an awkward discussion.
“The girls in my class looked horrified as the boys tried to justify it as locker-room talk,” she said. “And we had to have that whole discussion like, ‘No, this isn’t OK. You don’t understand what you’re saying.’ And the reason they’re saying that is because they’re hearing it’s OK from a national candidate.”
Scheduled appearances by candidates, surrogates in Ohio:
Wed., Oct. 26: Chelsea Clinton campaigns for her mother in Grove City (Noon), Cincinnati and Solon
Thurs., Oct. 27: Donald Trump in Springfield (1:00 p.m.), Toledo and Geneva
Sen. Tim Kaine and Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) campaign for Hillary Clinton in Lorain and GambierSat., Oct. 29: Pres. Bill Clinton will campaign for his wife in Columbus and Cleveland
Sat.-Sun, Oct. 29-30: Lena Dunham, actress, campaigns for Hillary Clinton in Cleveland, Wooster, Mt. Vernon (4:30 p.m. Sun.) and Columbus (6:15 p.m. Sun.)
Friday, Nov. 4: Jay Z, musician, “Get Out The Vote Concert” for Hillary Clinton in Cleveland
In a survey conducted this year by the Southern Poverty Law Center, more than half of teachers said they’ve seen an increase in uncivil political discourse in the classroom, and 40 percent said they’re reluctant to teach about the election.
“It sets such a bad example for our students. I spend a lot of time teaching my students in my classroom that when we debate and discuss that it’s OK to disagree with someone but you never attack the person, it never gets personal. And right now, they’re not getting a good example of that on a national stage,” Daniels said.
In the survey, some teachers reported hearing students use slurs and make inflammatory statements in regard to another student’s gender, race or ethnicity. Daniels says she works to create a safe place for all students.
“I have a lot of students in my school who are Muslim students, who are families of immigrants, and I think they’re afraid to speak up because they are afraid of what they will hear. I don’t like that at all,” she said. “I want everyone to feel safe and feel like they can share their thoughts and discuss things.”
More than two-thirds of the teachers in the survey reported that some students, mainly children of immigrants and Muslims, have said they’re worried about what might happen to their families after the election.