The “Trump Effect,” which are reports of bullying, harassment and outright assaults against various groups, has intensified since the election. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has tracked close to 1,000 such incidents thus far. Sickeningly, many of these incidents have taken place on school campuses. SPLC even sent a survey to “10,000 teachers, counselors, administrators, and others from K-12” schools across the nation and 80 percent of teachers reported “a feeling of heightened anxiety and concern on the part of students who are worried about the election’s effects on themselves and their families,” according to the Daily Beast. Of course, commons sense tells us “not all” children, but in a climate such as today’s, hard proof is needed. Enter Molly Spence Sahebjami:
“I talked to many of my friends with kids, and we all shared the same question: What do we tell our kids about why the mean man won?” Sahebjami, a mother and Hillary Clinton supporter from Seattle, Washington, told The Huffington Post.
Sahebjami’s plan was simple: She would invite parents to join her Facebook group and have their kids write positive, non-partisan letters to the president-elect, explaining the importance of being kind to others. It was an experiment she took up with her 5-year-old son to help make sense of the election.
Within days, thousands of people joined the private group, posting photos of their children’s letters and sharing them on social media with the hashtag #KidsLettersToTrump. By Tuesday, more than 12,000 people had requested to join Sahebjami’s group. [...]
Young kids “may have varying levels of knowledge about the key issues in the election, but there is one thing they know for sure,” Sahebjami told HuffPost. “Trump said some really unkind things about certain groups of people.”
The children and youth, ranging in age from 3 to 18, have written of their frustrations as well as their hopes.
“Kids in my class are very scared, please don’t kick them out. In my school, we get sent to the wall when we’re in trouble. My friends did not do anything wrong. Don’t send them to the wall.”
Abby, age 6
“How to be nice: Say kind things like well done. Don’t blame other people when it is you doing the bad thing. Don’t lie. Don’t scream at people. Behave.”
Kela, age 7
“Please Donald Trump, don’t be mean to people anymore. Please be nice and don’t be mean anymore. Please be a good leader for all the people. That is all.”
Bellamy, age 3.5
You can view the letters here.