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If Donald Trump were in school, many of his comments would earn him a trip to the principal鈥檚 office.

That鈥檚 according to many educators across the country, who say they are struggling with how to teach an election cycle that has inflamed racial and ethnic tensions, sparked name-calling between the Republican presidential nominee and Democratic standard-bearer Hillary Clinton, and drawn stark lines between鈥攁nd even within鈥攖he parties.

Some teachers say they have found themselves trying to strike a balance with their own code of ethics as educators: They feel they have a responsibility to condemn some of Trump鈥檚 controversial remarks, despite their wish to maintain objectivity in front of their students.

鈥淚 try to be very neutral in class鈥攖hat鈥檚 always been my philosophy,鈥� said Erik Anderson, a U.S. government teacher at Valley View Middle School in Edina, Minn. 鈥淧robably for the first time, there have been some things said in the campaign that I can鈥檛 just ignore. I have to say, 鈥楾his isn鈥檛 right.鈥� I don鈥檛 remember ever before being unable to play it right down the middle.鈥�

Trump鈥檚 comments on immigration, in particular, have struck a nerve with Anderson and other teachers. The GOP candidate has called for large-scale deportations of undocumented immigrants, the construction of a massive wall along the U.S.-Mexican border, and an outright ban on Muslim immigration.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not so much the policy鈥攊t鈥檚 some of the words used, some of the hyperbole that鈥檚 thrown out there, and the personal nature of things. I would have a hard time looking some of my kids in the eye if I didn鈥檛 say anything,鈥� Anderson said.

In an unscientific survey conducted in April, Teaching Tolerance, an educational project of the Southern Poverty Law Center, found that 40 percent of 2,000 teachers who participated were hesitant to teach about the campaign at all. As the new school year gets underway, many teachers are still reluctant, said Maureen Costello, the director of Teaching Tolerance.

For the most part, the concern is not coming from administrators, she said. Rather, classroom teachers are wary of their own ability to navigate the tensions.

Protective Instincts

Of course, not all teachers are unsympathetic to Trump. There are several Teachers for Trump social-media groups, for example. But teachers from those groups did not respond to requests for comment for this article.

Sean Hiland, a high school social studies teacher in Atlanta who tweets and blogs under the handle Conservative Teacher, plans to vote for Trump. He said he tries not to broadcast his political beliefs to his students but, instead, encourages them to look past the rhetoric coming from both parties.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 let my kids take anything a politician says at face value,鈥� Hiland said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to breed cynics, but I don鈥檛 want them to be naive voters either.鈥�

Indeed, having students analyze issues beyond the campaign rhetoric is one of many ways that teachers are approaching the 2016 election, said Meira Levinson, a professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education who has been holding professional-development sessions on the election with teachers.

Some teachers have decided to facilitate strictly issue-based discussions, she said. Others have tried to put the election鈥攁nd Trump鈥檚 rise in popularity鈥攊n historical context.

Some teachers say they will teach about the election as in previous years but be more careful with setting the ground rules on acceptable classroom discourse. Still others are focusing on teaching their students how to analyze media reports and notice biases.

Justin Christensen, an Advanced Placement U.S. Government teacher at St. Ignatius College Preparatory in San Francisco, put it this way: 鈥淚n my classroom, we鈥檙e not here to say, 鈥業 like this person, I like that person.鈥� We鈥檙e here to be political scientists.鈥�

Still, Levinson said, many teachers 鈥渁re still wrestling and stuck. Grown men started to tear up as they talked about this. They said, 鈥業鈥檝e been thinking about this all summer long. What am I going to do?鈥� 鈥�

Such teachers, she said, are committed to ensuring that their classrooms are safe spaces for their students, particularly those of color or from marginalized communities. At the same time, they鈥檙e worried that parents might complain to the school鈥檚 administration if they take a stance against a candidate in the classroom.

Educators say the divisive and inflammatory rhetoric in this campaign cycle has caused some students鈥攑articularly undocumented students, children of immigrants, and Muslim students鈥攖o feel unsafe and concerned about their futures if Trump is elected. That has sparked teachers鈥� protective instincts.

鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 feel like I can say, 鈥楾here are two candidates and you should make up your own mind,鈥� 鈥� said Luke Carman, a math teacher at Albany Park Multicultural Academy in Chicago, which is almost 80 percent Hispanic. 鈥淚t鈥檚 obvious, but I still feel like they should hear, 鈥楴o, I鈥檓 not voting for Donald Trump. No, I don鈥檛 support the rhetoric that鈥檚 coming from his campaign, because I fundamentally love and care about you as human beings.鈥� 鈥�

At the same time, teachers are concerned about making sure students who support Trump feel protected to voice their views.

鈥淭he challenge of this election is how do you respond in the moment to a kid who says something that violates your school鈥檚 norms, or the norms of the classroom, without silencing the student or leading them to accuse you of endorsing the other candidate,鈥� said Jonathan Gold, a middle school history teacher in Providence, R.I.

Mock-Election Troubles

Kyle Redford, a 5th grade teacher at Marin Country Day School in Corte Madera, Calif., and an opinion blogger for Education Week Teacher, said she wants to make sure both her students from Republican families and students who might feel personally threatened by Trump鈥檚 rhetoric feel supported. But if those two sides come into conflict, she said, she would feel comfortable stepping in to defend the latter group.

鈥淲e鈥檝e already seen kids using Trump鈥檚 language against each other. ... 鈥業f Trump gets elected, your family has to go home.鈥� It鈥檚 really hurtful,鈥� Redford said.

Costello noted her group, Teaching Tolerance, has created a Speak Up for Civility contract for educators, other school staff members, and parents to sign, asking them to refrain from name-calling and stereotyping to model good citizenship for students.

Teachers had requested a resource like this, she said. On the day of its release, about 1,000 copies were downloaded.

The 2016 presidential campaign has also put a damper on one of the civic-minded traditions in U.S. schools: the mock election. This year, the exercise could lead to problems, some educators say, particularly if students are given the roles of impersonating the candidates and trying to win classmates鈥� votes.

鈥淚 would not recommend it this year, because it encourages caricature and it just opens the door to the kind of language that doesn鈥檛 belong in school,鈥� Costello said.

Kelly Wickham Hurst, a former educator and the founder of the advocacy group Being Black at School, started a Twitter hashtag, #blockthemock, to discourage educators from hosting mock elections, particularly for the sake of children of color.

鈥淭o impersonate candidates鈥擨 think it would be very, very dangerous and damaging to children,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t would inflame some of the racial and ethnic tensions that kids are already hearing on the news.鈥�

Some schools are finding alternate ways to conduct mock elections. Hiland, the Atlanta teacher who supports Trump, said he will continue to host his school鈥檚 mock election but will conduct it in a panel format, with a student moderator and two panels of students representing both Trump and Clinton. He did that in 2008 and said it resulted in a greater a focus on the issues, as opposed to the candidates鈥� personalities.

High-Stakes Teaching

Even the National Student/Parent Mock Election is discouraging the impersonation element.

鈥淒iscretion is the better part of valor,鈥� said Gloria Kirshner, the co-founder and president of the program (of which Clinton has been a board member since 1987). 鈥淲e鈥檙e never mentioning the candidates by name this year. We鈥檝e given teachers a great deal of thoughtful ideas for kids to think about, rather than the usual 鈥榟e said, she said.鈥� 鈥�

Despite the myriad of challenges of teaching the 2016 election, however, many teachers also see it as a unique opportunity.

鈥淚 think I鈥檓 going to have students who have never cared more about history class,鈥� Gold, the Rhode Island history teacher, said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e going to want to understand all of this, and they鈥檙e going to want to talk to someone about this.鈥�

And the stakes are high, educators say. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 go into autopilot this year,鈥� Redford said. 鈥淓verything is so potentially explosive that it makes you feel unsafe getting near it, but it鈥檚 too important. It鈥檚 our democracy; it鈥檚 our election. You can鈥檛 pretend it鈥檚 not happening. It鈥檚 not going away.鈥�