The United States is approaching an election, and the rhetoric slipping into classrooms isn’t always pretty.

Even in elementary schools, teachers find that their students have strong opinions—and those opinions are often merely parrotted from parents rather than based on information and understanding.

These educators face a conundrum. How do they balance teaching their students while not upsetting parents and not allowing political views to interfere with the school day?

The U.S. Is Vocally Divided And Very Angry

Political rhetoric is at an unbelievable height. The general public conversation is currently addressing issues of political violence, bias and discrimination, and a lot of grievances.

Even among adults, the result can be individuals feeling excluded, unsafe, or uncomfortable. When it seeps into elementary schools, this may affect students’ ability to learn and feel safe in their educational environment.

Parents and teachers find themselves looking for a balance: children should be educated about current events that will affect their lives and futures, but the classroom should feel safe and inclusive for all students.

Students’ Learning Experience Has Already Been Affected By Heightened Sociopolitical Rhetoric

In 2016, one elementary school was forced to cancel its mock election. These mock elections have been carried out in classrooms for decades, allowing students to cast their votes anonymously, learn about current issues, and practice for participation in the democratic process.

Unfortunately, according to ABC News, that year, the rhetoric around race and religion, mainly targeting Muslim students and racial minorities, grew so extreme that the mock election was shifted from presidential candidates to lunch choices to ensure that all students continued to feel safe. I had kids in public school that year, and remember them coming home to tell me about kids expressing their frustration on the playground when their preferred candidate didn’t win their classroom’s mock election.

This year, anger and division are heating up again, and kids are hearing it from their classmates.

Parents Want To Teach Kids About Their Values & Views

While we all may differ on the views and values we hold dear, parents agree on one thing: it is our job to raise our children by our values and teach them the skills and information that will help them participate in society as adults.

Partisan views aside, elections are a big part of that, and parents have both the desire and the duty to prepare their children to listen to candidates and evaluate their promises, read and understand proposed legislation, and make voting decisions that will move the country in the direction they desire.

For Smaller Kids, Views May Be Strong While Information Is Lacking

One teacher recently turned to Reddit for advice and to share experience with fellow educators about handling the rhetoric this year. She asked whether other teachers are also dreading the conversations in their classrooms this year.

Overwhelmingly, the answer was yes.

Several 4th-grade teachers weighed in, with one saying that she could tell the political affiliations of her students’ families by the things her students say and another saying they had nine-year-old students announcing who they planned to vote for (and had to be told they’re not old enough). One described students at that age this way:

“The kids know absolutely nothing other than what their parents tell them and man, they are fervent in those beliefs.”

For Older Students, Teachers Have Found Some Solutions

Various websites have political quizzes where users can input their views on political issues and receive an analysis of which candidates share their positions. For high school students, some teachers are saying that they’ve sent the kids to these sites and that “students were stunned with their results.”

Others say teaching their subjects is hard because of parents’ political input. Still, others say that they’ve been banned from allowing political discussion.

Some say they’re allowing political discussion and keeping their own opinions to themselves, but they’re also policing the conversation to ensure it stays respectful.

A Psychologist’s Recommendation For Political Discussions In Classrooms

Kim Gorgens, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at the University of Denver, spoke to KDVR about how teachers can handle these conversations. Her advice is more focused on older kids, but some can be applicable at any grade level. She advised:

“As an educator, we have an almost phobic avoidance of bringing politics into the classroom unless you happen to be teaching a class about politics,” Gorgens said. “So, this is true also for parents who are going to avoid that conversation. But kids are hungry for it. Kids want to hear those perspectives. Kids are certainly going to become stewards of the community that we build, but more importantly, they need to be exposed to those kinds of really logical, learned calm conversations that might make it less scary for them out there in the world.”

A major factor she mentioned is being able to end the conversation if it feels uncomfortable or if only one viewpoint is being allowed.

This means teachers must control political discussion in the classroom, and they must stop it if kids start feeling unsafe.

What Can Parents Do To Make This Run More Smoothly?

Parents can consider what type of rhetoric their kids hear at home. We all have the right to share our political views with our kids, but when they hear support for political violence, those views will bubble back up in the classroom.

We should all speak to our kids about everyone’s right to feel safe in school and what that means for conversations. We can make sure our kids know that our discussions of political views shouldn’t be about attacking other people and shouldn’t make classmates afraid to be in the same room or on the same playground.

Since our kids are going to parrot our views, we may want to have conversations with them about why we hold those beliefs and what they mean for us and the country. We also may need to speak to our youngest kids about political violence and reassure them that they are safe.