A fourth-grade teacher in the U.S. says her students — many of Hispanic descent — often “talk in fear” about the policies of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. “He hates Mexicans and wants to send my family back to Mexico,” one nine-year-old reportedly said.

That’s one of nearly 4,800 alarming responses to a Southern Poverty Law Center survey of U.S. teachers. They show that in the age of Trump classrooms have become a microcosm of an inflamed presidential race.

“We’re deeply concerned about the level of fear among minority children who feel threatened by both the incendiary campaign rhetoric and the bullying they’re encountering in school,” law centre president Richard Cohen said in a statement. “We’ve seen Donald Trump behave like a 12-year-old, and now we’re seeing 12-year-olds behave like Donald Trump.”

The civil rights group’s online survey asked teachers how the campaign is affecting schoolchildren. The answers reveal “an increase in the bullying, harassment and intimidation of students whose races, religions or nationalities have been the verbal targets of candidates,” according to the report.

One child declared in his middle school homeroom that he “stood with Trump” and was ready to “get ‘em all out of here,” his teacher reported. “Two of my Latina students are in that class. They were visibly shaken.”

“If girls wear shorts and halters — they are going to get raped by those Mexican criminals that keep coming in,” an 18-year-old student said, according to another teacher.

More than two-thirds of the teachers reported that students — mainly immigrants, children of immigrants and Muslims — have expressed concerns or fears about what might happen to them or their families after the election.

Heightened tension in the classroom means teachers have been reluctant to discuss those issues at a time when mutual understanding seems especially critical, noted Maureen Costello, who authored the report.

“Schools are finding that their anti-bullying work is being tested and, in many places, falling apart,” she said.

Since June, Trump has called for a massive wall across the southern U.S. border — to be paid for by Mexico — as well as a ban on Muslims entering the country.

The billionaire real estate mogul has also dubbed Mexican immigrants “rapists,” appeared to mock a disabled newspaper reporter and stated that abortions should carry “some form of punishment” if outlawed.

The long-term impact of the campaign on children’s attitudes and civic education is tough to gauge. Some teachers reported that their students are more engaged in the political process this year. Others worry the election is making them “less trusting of government” or “hostile to opposing points of view,” or that children are “losing respect for the political process.”

Here are the survey’s recurring themes:

Xenophobia

“At the all-white school where I teach, ‘dirty Mexican’ has become a common insult. Before election season it was never heard.”

Anti-Muslim vitriol

“Just today, at the high school, I heard students in the hallway going to lunch. One student yelled out, ‘I hate Muslims!’”

“Kids haven’t turned on each other yet, but it has made it OK to say hateful things about Muslims and immigrants … The adults in my town are even worse. People are showing their true colors.”

Racism

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“My students are terrified of Donald Trump … They think that if he’s elected, all black people will get sent back to Africa.”

“I have another student at my school who is Indian that has been targeted because the other students perceive him to be a Muslim. He has been harassed by being called ‘Isis’ and with students saying, ‘Allah Akbar’ to him, among other things. His mother confessed to me that they had considered moving because of it.”

Fear for the future

“95 per cent of the 117 students I teach are actually from Mexico … Teenagers are crying in class, students are writing heartbreaking journal entries, and some students have already gone back to Mexico out of pure fear.”

“One of my students from Iraq used to wear a hijab. A few days after the Paris attacks, she stopped wearing it and she told me her mother made her take it off because she was afraid she would get killed.”

Anger at Trump

“Some of my male students have even gone so far as to say that if they had a chance they would like to assassinate Trump … It scares me that Trump’s campaign seems to encourage violence in both Trump’s supporters and detractors.”

“There has been an increase in bullying by way of accusing each other that they are Trump supporters to isolate them from the social groups.”

Encouraging signs

“My students have maintained an openness toward immigrants … There may be some who are increasingly anti-immigrant, but they are less vocal than those who want to support refugees.”

“If anything, my students quite openly make fun of him. My Muslim and Mexican students have used some gallows humor about ‘enjoying their last days in the U.S.’ before ‘President Trump’ ends up in the White House and they get deported.”

These quotes are drawn from 4,796 comments made in response to a Southern Poverty Law Center survey of 2,000 K-12 teachers from across the U.S. between March 23 and April 2. The survey does not claim to be representative of the nation, as respondents were a non-random sample of website visitors and email subscribers.

— With files from PRI’s The World

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