Last edited Wed Jul 15, 2020, 02:07 PM - Edit history (1)

One problem i have not heard addressed is the probability that children of Trump cultists will come to school believing themselves to be obligated to spread their family's "truth." Some of these children will act out in unfortunate ways. They may deliberately touch or breathe or cough on other children or on adults around them. They will repeat the propaganda they have heard at home, with the anger and derision they have absorbed.

When I was working as an itinerant public school speech pathologist, I encountered several situations in which little right-wing children spouted the propaganda they were hearing at home. On one occasion, a boy came into the session trying to persuade us all that Democrats don't care if everybody loses jobs and goes hungry, because they had all just voted against some plan proposed by Republicans. I managed to defuse and deflect by pointing out briefly that the Democrats had only wanted to get their own plan passed. "You see," I said, "all the grownups want to solve this problem. They are just arguing about how to do it. You have to hear all ideas from everybody. The smart grownups will figure out how to compromise, which is the best way to solve problems. So don't worry."

In a side note, I can remember myself at age almost 5. My parents had taught me how to write my name in block letters. When I got to kindergarten, I was shocked and indignant to find that the teacher tried to get me to print my name in mostly lower-case letters. They could have stood me up against a wall and pointed a gun at me, and I would have proudly died for my family's Block Letters. Apparently, the teacher sent a note to my mother. That night, Mommy sat me down and explained that the Block Letters were for beginners, and I would now be learning the official writing system of the academic world.