10,000 Educators Weigh in on Hate and Bullying in Schools Since the Election

The survey was made available to members of Teaching Tolerance, a project of the SPLC that aims to diminish hate and prejudice in education and provide "equitable school experiences" to all young people. The survey was reportedly also distributed through a number of other national education organizations, including Facing History and Ourselves, Teaching for Change, Not in Our Schools, the American Federation of Teachers and Rethinking Schools.

The respondents relayed thousands of stories of discrimination spanning a spectrum of severity, from casual to deeply disturbing hateful acts. Their reports depict white students who have threatened students of color, teachers reporting the casual use of racial epithets, such as the n-word, as well as racialized threats, like lynching, and calls for the deportation of non-white students. "In over 15 years of teaching high school this is the first year that swastikas are appearing all over school furniture," one high school teacher from Washington state submitted.

Multiple educators in the SPLC survey also report that some male students are flagrantly objectifying and harassing girls. "I have had one male student grab a female student's crotch and tell her that it's legal for him to do that to her now," wrote one elementary school educator from Minnesota. A middle school teacher from Indiana reported witnessing "boys inappropriately grabbing and touching girls, even after they said no," adding, "This never happened until after the election."

The targets of these attacks are predominantly people of color and immigrants, as well as LGBT and female students. "White males have been overheard saying, 'Screw women's rights, fag lover liberal, build the wall, lock her up,'" claimed a high school teacher from Michigan. "The rebel flag is draped on the truck of a popular student, and the p-word has been used very casually, citing Trump as the excuse."

There have been some rebuttals to reports like these: Stories of Trump-related discrimination have been excused as hoaxes, or illegitimate, by a few conservative writers. One student, Taylor Volk, of North Park University, claimed to have been targeted by hate-motivated Trump supporters, but the university president, David Parkyn, later released a statement claiming Volk's story was fabricated, that the young woman was no longer a student, and no report seems to have been made about the incident that she publicly alleged, according to NBC Chicago. Volk does not appear to have responded to Parkyn's statement.

"The overwhelming evidence is that most of the reports are real. Very few [reports] have been confirmed as hoaxes," says Maureen Costello, the director of Teaching Tolerance at the SPLC. "Our survey asked for teacher contact information, so we feel extremely confident that what is happening in schools is real." Costello actually believes that, rather than being illegitimate, "school incidents are probably underreported, as schools have no obligation to report such incidents to anyone."

Though the SPLC makes it clear that these findings are not scientific, and are not representative, they believe that this data is meaningful, and the stories told by teachers across the nation depict a crisis. "It is the largest collection of educator responses that has been collected; the tremendous number of responses as well as the overwhelming confirmation of what has been anecdotally reported in the media cannot be ignored or dismissed," Costello says.

Schools that are overwhelmingly white, in areas without racial diversity, reported fewer or no increase in hate-motivated acts. The SPLC attributes this to the fact that the students here may not be exposed to the populations who are frightened by the election results, who are subsequently not forced to confront these issues. "Teachers at these schools report that their students have accepted (or welcomed) the results and have moved on," the survey says.

Another group of teachers reported little or no increase in acts of hate come from schools that actively work toward unity and equality. These educators came from "schools that have worked hard at establishing inclusive welcoming communities, have response programs in place, and nurtured qualities of empathy and compassion among students," the SPLC reports.

It appears that these acts have worsened since the presidential campaign ended. Costello says that the SPLC conducted this same survey in the spring, but the findings, while still disturbing, weren't as bad. In addition, far more educators responded this time, indicating increased awareness of such incidents. "Last time we did the report, only 2,000 people responded. This time 10,000 people responded and in less time," she explains. "The fact that five times more people responded shows you it's definitely widespread and it's definitely worse."

Costello says that the last few years have seen significant improvements for marginalized students, who have experienced increased inclusivity and efforts toward equality and acceptance. "This year has just set schools back," Costello says, unsure of which regressive decade our current political climate is most comparable to. "Many, many teachers said to us, 'I've never seen anything like this before,'" she continues. "I've had teachers tell us in twenty-some odd years of teaching this is the first time they heard a student use the n-word."

It is teachers, and school administrators, who are going to have to step up and help to curb the crisis, Costello says, describing next steps as a kind of triage. School leaders will have to keep an ever-watchful on students, establish safe spaces for the vulnerable, and become attendant to mental health issues, which Costello expects will increasingly worsen in the months to come. "The first thing is you take care of the wounds and make sure they're safe. Have an action plan in case something worse happens," Costello says.

Beyond that, Costello suggests that schools need to begin considering how they will deal with political actions by our country's incoming presidential administration; if the mass deportation of immigrant families begins, how will the school cope and help students who are likely going to have their families torn apart? "Schools are just going to have to do an enormous amount of work on community building and getting people to listen to each other," Costello says.

The young people who are reportedly being victimized in schools today are also members of marginalized populations, who are already working against a system that is not designed to support them. "Now educators and professionals have to spend time protecting them and caring for them and helping them process [anxiety and trauma]," Costello explains, "which means less time to spend on their academic progress."

"It's one more blow against the kids who already are the least served in schools—kids in poverty, black kids. Those kids are already the least well served and we have just made the environment even tougher for them to learn."