“…hate speech is understood as any kind of communication in speech, writing or behavior, that attacks or uses pejorative or discriminatory language with reference to a person or a group on the basis of who they are…” (United Nations Strategy and Plan on Hate Speech)
I am a teacher educator committed to helping children live peacefully in our diverse and complex world. My years of working in the field of education have exposed me to many codes of conduct for students in public and independent schools across our nation. These codes have focused on core values of life in a democratic society. They have emphasized that all students should feel welcome and safe in an environment in which they are treated fairly. Students have been encouraged to develop empathy for others and to embrace the diversity in their schools as valuable. There is a common expectation that all interactions with staff, teachers, and other students will reflect civility and respect. Many of these school codes of conduct reflect years of work of child advocates and education scholars to infuse a multicultural and anti-bias stance into school practice. Overall, school students have been encouraged to develop the social skills and values that prepare them to be the good citizens we will need for a peaceful future in the United States.
After reflecting on these school codes of conduct, I have to be deeply concerned about the exposure of children to some of the hateful and hostile discourse publicly displayed by candidates during our recent political campaigns. How are students now supposed to make sense of the gap between the behavior expected of them and the antithetical behavior of candidates for higher office? Will some of them now believe that it is acceptable to hurl demeaning insults that denigrate others? Imagine a school student who calls a teacher “scum” or “garbage” because of their birthplace of origin. Consider the possibility that a group of students on a playground are heard calling immigrant classmates “animals” or “rapists” or “blood thirsty criminals.” Imagine students in a social studies class who refer to newscasters as “disgusting” or voters as “radical-left thugs” because of their political views. These hypothetical scenarios may seem far-fetched, but they should raise our awareness of the dilemma now faced by our child population. It would appear that some successful political candidates have spoken and acted in ways that would have resulted in their own detention, suspension, or even expulsion from school.
Perhaps because of our deep social divide and emotional political polarization during the recent campaigns, we forgot that our children were watching. Many of their hearts and minds have inevitably been affected by the offensive slurs, angry insults, and vicious scapegoating they have witnessed. We now have a responsibility as a nation – as parents, politicians, teachers, religious leaders, public servants, and concerned citizens, to help children process election-related fear, anxiety, and uncertainty. We need to show them, bipartisan differences aside, that we intend to work together to maintain a peaceful and positive social climate in which they can thrive. An important first step must be letting our local, state, and national leaders know that we will neither condone nor tolerate the presence of hate speech in further political discourse. All future campaigns and elections should be characterized by intelligent and respectful articulation of a variety of opposing beliefs and political positions. The children will be watching again, and hopefully they will see confirmation that the behavioral standards to which they are held in school are also upheld by those who seek election to the highest government positions in the United States of America.
Beatrice S. Fennimore is a teacher educator whose publications have focused on child advocacy, anti-bias education, public school equity, and dehumanizing educator talk about children.