I have talked to several friends who, like me, have had their
kids experience fallout from the recent Presidential elections.
In my case, my kids (Grades 8 and 10) questioned Obama's experience, and were ridiculed by a large number of peers. In some cases, the ridicule was hostile and aggressive. My kids have actually lost friends over it. My 10th grader had a teacher who started to grade her papers aggressively after discussing the election in class. I called that teacher, and put an end to that immediately.
I have a friend who lives, evidently, in a more conservative part of town, who was the other way around - he and his family supported Obama (yes, we're still friends anyways
), and his kids were aggressively ridiculed for it. In his case, his teachers had a lot to say, and were harder on him. My friend actually was afraid to call his kid's teacher, for fear of longer-term retribution.
Another friend has a son in 9th grade who is transferring after this semester. He goes to private school, and he made the mistake of liking Obama, and he saw things change for him afterwards.
In my case, I figured it was isolated, and it was handled by me talking to the teachers. But, hearing this over New Year's with a couple of others makes me think this is more widespread than I thought.
It is despicable that politics has come to this. We have to get this turned around in this country in a hurry, or it will do us in before the economic crisis does.
Have any of you experienced these types of situations? Why is it we can't have dialogue any more?
01-12-2009, 09:32 AM
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