March 2026 SOLC–Day 5
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We’re lined up in the hallway waiting for the final dismissal call and the official end of the school day.
“Look what I found!” J. yells triumphantly, rising from the ground and holding up a penny.
“Ooooh!” L. enthuses, edging closer. “It’s a penny! Pennies are rare now!”
“Do you know why they’re rare?” I ask.
“Because Trump stopped making them. Trump’s bad!” yet another student offers.
“Well,” I interject, not exactly sure yet what I’m going to say and trying to formulate a response. But then, before I can continue, another student chime in.
“It’s true,” he said, his soft brown eyes looking up at me earnestly. “Trump is bad. He kills people. He does. He made this thing called ice–not like the slippery ice–and they kill people. Like they killed a soccer mom and she didn’t even do anything!”
Some other kids nod.
A moment hangs there, and I’m not sure what to do. What to say.
These are 7 year old kids. They’re talking about the President of the United States killing people. And they clearly have heard a lot. They have details.
How do I handle this? How would you handle it?
For good or for bad, I divert.
“Well, one big reason they stopped making pennies is because it costs more to make pennies than they are worth,” I say.
“Oh, yeah,” L, the penny expert, says, “I heard that.”
And then their conversation moves smoothly along to other topics.
They probably won’t even remember this conversation.
I will.
Nix the comfort zone 
Heavy sigh! Kids can’t even be kids anymore.
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Ugh. I think you handled this well. I overheard a similar political exchange with a few students recently and the teacher diverted after listening. So tricky…and sad that this is the reality we are faced with. As for the pennies my own eight year old asked me yesterday if I knew Pennie’s were “extinct!”
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These conversations are so tricky! Even here in Canada I am having them with grade 6 students (who know a lot more than the 7-year-olds!) Like you, I sometimes divert and change the subject, but sometimes I facilitate the conversation. I’m always careful to try and keep my opinion neutral in front of students, but they are afraid and I’m not quite sure how to help.
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Straight out of the mouths of babes. I think you handled it the best way – – turning attention back to the scarcity of the penny. I love this:
“Well, one big reason they stopped making pennies is because it costs more to make pennies than they are worth,” I say.
“Oh, yeah,” L, the penny expert, says, “I heard that.”
That’s the best way to end. Some things cost more than they are worth.
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These are the trickiest situations to find yourself in as a teacher, and you handled it well. Kids hear and know so much—it’s sad to see innocence being chipped away.
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This is indeed one of those really difficult conversations. I think you handled it well, considering the turn it took.
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