Nantucket school officials responded to two incidents last week where students used language and rhetoric seemingly inspired by the tone of the recent presidential campaign.
Cyrus Peirce Middle School Principal Peter Cohen said, in one incident, some students at his school repeated disrespectful language used by President-elect Donald Trump. In the other incident, a group of students told a fellow student - an immigrant - that she was going to be deported.
Teachers responded by stopping the behavior and talked with students about why such behavior is unacceptable. Cohen then notified parents, and said he hopes parents and teachers can use both incidents to teach greater respect and tolerance among students.
"Students don't just make this up," he said. "They hear it on TV, they hear it around the dinner table. And so it's just an opportunity for us to teach kids how to navigate when current events impact their world."
Cohen said there have been no further incidents at the school.
Meanwhile, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healy's office has launched a new hotline for citizens to report harassment and intimidation of minority groups. The number is 1-800-994-3228.
Cohen spoke with WCAI's Morning Edition co-host Brian Morris, and you can listen to the discussion here:
This post has been updated to remove Nantucket High School from the story.
