DEARBORN — Donald Trump’s election to the presidency has led to dozens of reported conflicts among students at public schools across the nation.

Some notable ones include a fifth grader bringing an air pistol on a school bus in Minnesota and threatening a third grade Muslim student. Several reports surfaced in numerous states of female Muslim students being subjected to having their hijabs pulled off by their fellow classmates.

At DeWitt Junior high School in DeWitt, Michigan, some students even formed a human wall and attempted to block minority students from entering the building.

Students weren’t the only targets. In Georgia, students wrote a letter to a Muslim teacher, telling her that her hijab wasn’t “allowed anymore” now that Trump is president and telling her to hang herself with it.

At Royal Oak Middle School, just days after Trump was elected, a video went viral showcasing students chanting “build a wall” during lunch. One week later, a noose was found in the boys’ bathroom. The student who brought the item to school was identified and suspended.

“At Royal Oak Schools, the safety of our students is our number one priority,” said Superintendent Shawn Lewis-Lakin. We take this incident very seriously. We will not tolerate intimidation, threats, harassment or bullying.”

‘We are used to it’

It’s evident that Trump’s racially charged campaign for the White House has caused some disarray among school children, leading local educators to strategize on how to tackle a tense political environment with their students.

At the Dearborn Public Schools, which includes a high concentration of Muslim and Arab students, the territory isn’t anything new.

District Spokesman David Mustonen told The AANews that local schools often find themselves in situations where they have to address a political climate that targets their community.

“We’ve done it many times before,” Mustonen said. “We are a little different in our district. At certain times,  national and world events impact our students differently than our students in other communities, simply because of the direct connection that a lot of our students have. Our students are prepared and have dealt with this type of thing before.”

Mustonen said Superintendent Glenn Maleyko sent out talking points to school principals, social workers and teachers following Trump’s win earlier this month.

He noted that despite numerous conflicts being reported at schools across the country, there hasn’t been such issues within the district.

Some students did express fears to teachers and social workers about what a Trump presidency would mean for their families. Mustonen said those students were addressed on a case by case basis. 

“There’s been no conflicts and issues like that at our schools,” he said. “We did have some reports throughout the district of students who came in after the election who were concerned and worried about what this election would mean for them.” 

Mustonen said that avoiding the topic all-together was inconceivable, as kids do talk. He added that the election was discussed in the appropriate courses.

We understand that students at any age, there is going to be discussions about world events and national events,” Mustonen said. “And it’s normal and acceptable. We encourage our students to have those discussions, in the appropriate places. In social studies, current events, all those kinds of areas, those discussions will come up and they are handled on an age- appropriate level.”

Haoura Rizk, a social worker at Woodworth Middle School, told The AANews that the day after the election, a couple of students did approach her with concern about how they would be perceived as Muslims. She noted that those feelings were quickly dispersed. 

“They were more worried with how people would perceive them and if people believed those things Trump said about Muslims,” Rizk said. “It was nothing more than a conversation to kind of ease their anxiety. We explained to them that we live in a safe environment and there is nothing to be scared of. There were no other hiccups.”

She said other current events were grabbing students’ attention, instead.

“Nobody was super worried,” Rizk said.  “It wasn’t anything significant. The kids were more afraid of clowns than they were of the election.” 

The views expressed by Haoura Rizk represent her as an individual and don’t reflect Dearborn Public Schools.*