Critically Thinking about Political Bullying in the 2024 Election Season

USING MEDIA LITERACY AND SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL LEARNING IN CONTEXT-BASED EDUCATION

First, an ally, then a foe. Trump went on to call Mitt Romney “a loser.” The White House from Washington, DC, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

School bullying thus remains a serious issue, but it is likely to remain an unsolvable issue if children continue to see successful examples of bullying modeled in homes, relationships, workplaces, and governments (Andrews, et al., 2023).

While teaching my critical thinking course at a university, I slammed hard into a severe issue: political bullying.

Geeze, it’s everywhere in the news and the media. In the United States, presidential candidates, House of Representatives members, and senators are in a constant state of argumentation.

Students and young people see this in the media.

They hear it.

They experience it.

AND

They emulate it.

From trans bashing to antisemitism and racism to xenophobia, the harassment doesn’t stop.

School bullying was studied after the 2016 election. “Our findings lend modest support for educator concerns about student teas…