The 'Trump Effect': Bullying, Fear On The Rise For School Kids

DETROIT (WWJ) - Election 2016 has been one of the most unconventional presidential campaigns we've seen in recent history. Now teachers are witnessing the effects of the heated, hate-filled rhetoric on the campaign trail bleeding into their classrooms.

They call it the Trump Effect.

According to a recent Southern Poverty Law Center survey of 2000 teachers the presidential campaign is having a profoundly negative impact on school children.

"This is the phenomenon of an increase in bullying behavior on school campuses -- where kids as young as first graders are feeling encouraged to bully," says Lily Eskelsen Garcia is the president of the National Education Association.

"We're going to do everything we can to sit those kids down and explain to them how a school has to be a safe and respectful place."

She says this campaign is proof that all parties have to work together to combat bullying.

What should parents do?

"Tell your kids what you think about what is coming out of Donald Trump's mouth - tell your kids that no one should feel unsafe or intimidated because of their race, ethnicity or religion. American isn't about being a bully," says Garcia.