‘Stick to education,’ Parents slam Hawaii school for distributing ‘biased’ political material to students

A Hawaii school faced the wrath of angry parents after it was revealed their children were being exposed to ‘biased’ political materials at the hands of teachers that showed former US president and Republican leader Donald Trump in a negative light. The matter came to notice when sixth graders at Kapolei Middle School, in Kapolei, were distributed documents with ‘details’ about the presidential candidates.

The document mentioned that Donald Trump “tried to overturn the 2020 election,” and even accused the Republican presidential nominee of taking immigrant “children away from their parents.”

On the other hand, the document spoke highly of his Democratic rival Kamala Harris, praising her for working to “keep our country a democracy.” On immigration, the document praises Harris for ‘plans to hiring more border guards and limiting how many people can move to the US.'

For instance, on crime, Trump has been described as one who 'sends soldiers to cities' against a Harris who offers ‘money to police.’

Parents were quick to criticise this new political ‘awareness’ campaign by the school authorities, despite a clarification by Hawaii's Department of Education (DoE), which said the document was aimed at ‘simplifying’ the 2024 White House race for the students.

Some parents said they were very ‘upset’ with the loaded characterisation.

“I think teachers should do their job as teachers: stick to education and not politics,” said a mother to Hawaii News Now. Another mom said the document was “a little biased.” “I don't think that it is right, especially at that age level,” said the woman. A third woman however said the initiative doesn’t bother her. “I actually value that because it's important to teach students how do we make informed decisions when we go to the ballot box,” she said.

It was later revealed that the document was prepared by some teachers of the school.

(With inputs from agencies)