“All the black and brown people have to leave”: Trump’s scary impact on how kids think

http://www.vox.com/identities/2016/10/20/13319366/donald-trump-racism-bigotry-children-bullying-muslim-mexican-black-immigrant



“All the black and brown people have to leave”: Trump’s scary impact on how kids think
Children have picked up on all the racist rhetoric.
Updated by Jenée Desmond-Harris jenee.desmondharris@voxmedia.com Oct 20, 2016, 9:00a

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“Decades of research have noted the impact of discrimination and racism on the psychological health of communities of color,” Erlanger A. Turner, a clinical psychologist and an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Houston-Downtown wrote in a 2016 article published by the American Psychological Association. Turner cited research by Walter Smith, a private practice psychologist and director of the nonprofit Family Resources of Pennsylvania, on the potential affects of “racial trauma”:



“This campaign has been particularly difficult and stressful for many individuals,” Turner said in an email to Vox, pointing to the American Psychological Association’s survey on techniques for coping with election-related stress. “As you might expect, if adults are stressed and having a difficult time this stress is magnified among youth. Children often model behaviors and emotions expressed by their parents or important figures in their lives. So when adults are distressed or bothered by comments by Donald Trump, similar behaviors may be experienced by youth.”

“There is a significant amount of research on the negative impacts of microaggressions (subtle racism and discrimination) and overt racism on individuals psychological and physical health,” he continued. “When children are the recipients of racist rhetoric it can lead to anxiety, depression, and concentration difficulties that might hurt their academic performance. In the long-term, this could lead to psychological symptoms or even health risk such as high blood pressure.”

Turner suggested that adults consult a a toolkit by Boston College’s Institute for the Study of and Promotion for Race and Culture to help children cope with race-based stress that results from campaign rhetoric, saying, “It’s particularly important for caregivers and parents to develop a plan of how to address these incidents.”

How the “Trump effect” will shape the way the kids affected by it operate as they grow up is an open question— but it seems clear that it’s not dependent on what happens November 8. In other words, much of the damage has been done.

Costello suspects that the effects will persist even if Trump doesn’t win the presidency. “Let’s imagine a scenario where Trump loses, Hillary wins, and no politicians are calling for these things or using this kind of language,” she said. “It’s still out there. Once kids are afraid, you just can’t turn it off.”