Has Donald Trump Poisoned the Playground? Educators Across L.A. Talk of New Spike in Bullying

By Mike Szymanski

October was National Bullying Prevention Month, and it couldn’t have come at a better time for LA Unified.

Anecdotal evidence and interviews with dozens of teachers, administrators, parents and students over the past three months point to an increase in school bullying, inappropriate language and public humiliation that many believe can be specifically attributed to the presidential campaign rhetoric. The district also reported higher incidence of bullying in months that coincided with media reports of inflammatory speech.

Recent examples exist from virtually every corner of the second-largest school district in the country:

• Girls in a lunch line in a South Central elementary school were teased with “Miss Piggy” and other weight-shaming phrases;
• High school students in Sylmar fear their parents will be taken away from them if Donald Trump is elected president;
• Students mocked special education students by flapping their arms wildly when they lined up for P.E. at a San Fernando Valley middle school;
• A teacher at a charter school who wears a hijab, or headscarf, was taunted with “you’re a terrorist” and “she’s got a…