"The town I teach in is rural and very white (almost 96 percent). The students were incredibly incensed by the election. Some were incredibly off-put by the idea that anyone could support someone who spouted racist, misogynist, homophobic, xenophobic rhetoric (their words, not mine). Others were in support of Trump and would respond with 'He doesn't mean it, he's just joking, he doesn't actually molest people.'
In my classroom, I simply won't allow students to insult or demean people. Trump made this rule more challenging. I found that more students were willing to call each other stupid, ignorant, weak, uninformed, or some other insult.
Many students who are in my class have approached the news with open sadness or fear. They don't know how to process the idea that people can separate someone's policies from who they are as a person. Many students expressed dismay with how their parents voted. Some of them even openly wondered 'If I'm gay and Trump and Pence don't think I'm acceptable, how can my parents vote for that person?'
Many of my female students feared for their safety entering into a world where the president can reportedly molest someone with impunity and expressed fear in the idea of going to college (many of them are aware of the rates of sexual assault on campuses already). My openly LGBTQ students were terrified. All I could tell them is that they weren't alone in their fears. That was really the only honest and somewhat idealistic thing I could share.
I've never been more impotent as a teacher and mentor for them. My kids are legitimately terrified, and there is no way for me to help. Usually I can give them advice or a strategy to work with, but I didn't have anything except 'You're not alone.' And it felt woefully inadequate."
