'Special post-election' counseling available to Nashville students

Metro Nashville Public Schools announced Friday that their school counselors have been provided with "special post-election protocols" to help students in need of counseling after the presidential election.

And one third grader has already seen a counselor after he was bullied by another student who told him he wouldn't be able to see one of his moms anymore now that Donald Trump has been elected.

"The United States has just experienced what many across the country view as one of the most divisive election seasons in recent history," MNPS wrote in a statement on Facebook. "As a result, emotions are running high for many of our students."

The district sought to remind parents that each school regularly provides free counseling to any student and that they continue to be available for students experiencing anxiety or stress as a result of the election.

A Metro Schools spokesperson was not immediately available to comment on what specific post-election protocols would be.

Julie Norrell found out her son had experienced post-election bullying when Elyse Geels, a teacher at Ruby Major Elementary School, sent her a message about the incident. Geels noted the child was "very upset."

"There has been a lot of ugliness and bullying to come out of this election and I think children pick up on that from TV or their parents," Norrell said. "The man that won the election has been modeling that it's OK to bully people, it's OK to call people names, it's OK to be mean. And now, children think it's OK to be mean too because the president is doing it."

When she picked her son up from school, he told her he'd been to see a school counselor who helped him feel better.

"This election has been particularly rough for my family," Norrell said. "We no longer feel safe in public. We wonder if we'll still be able to get married next year like we had planned."

The Southern Poverty Law Center released a report Friday tallying about 200 incidents across the U.S. of hateful harassment since Donald Trump was elected, noting that the most commonly reported location was K-12 schools.

Most of the incidents were anti-black and immigrant. Anti-Muslim incidents were the third most common. Many of the incidents included direct references to the Trump campaign, according to the SPLC, which has said the campaign inflamed racial and ethnic tensions in the classroom.

Metro Schools also told parents they plan to use the election as a teachable moment "to discuss democracy, citizenship and the voting process.

"Classrooms and schools should be safe havens for civil debate and discussions where various perspectives may be discussed respectfully and with kindness, compassion and support."

Norrell also sought to use the incident as a teachable moment.

"We talked about checks and balances in government and how the president couldn't make laws without Congress or the Supreme Court balancing them," she said.

She said that since the kids had been working on this in class already, it resonated with her son.

But she was concerned about how a Trump presidency would affect children in the future.

"I've seen so many stories of bullying already, and it's only been two days," Norrell said. "I shudder to think what will happen in four years."

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Reach Ariana Sawyer at 615-259-8382 or on Twitter @a_maia_sawyer.