Schools report that pupils and parents have been affected by political division • ‘We’re confused, angry and anxious ... and so are the children’

Teachers are being “used as punchbags” for families to vent their frustration over Brexit, schools have warned. Teachers have told the Observer they are experiencing a wave of confrontations with angry and anxious parents, while pupils as young as six are coming into school scared and confused.

Over the past year schools have started discussing Brexit in classrooms and assemblies as teachers seek to reduce tensions in the playground and reassure children who may have misunderstood what they have seen or heard on the news. There is little teachers can do, however, to placate parents who are feeling extremely frustrated about Brexit. “Ever since the referendum result was announced, levels of anger have slowly been building among parents,” said Anthony White, headteacher at Pound Hill Junior School in Crawley, Sussex.

When the UK failed to leave the EU by the original deadline of 29 March, tensions rose. “We’ve had parents coming into school and shouting at me and my staff, when they get frustrated,” he said.

‘We’re confused, angry and anxious over Brexit … and so are the children we teach’ Read more

While the confrontations were not about Brexit, he claimed they involved more tension because of it. “We live in a much more angry society,” he added. White said he thought more parents, particularly from white British backgrounds, were expressing anger with teachers, who they see as public servants. “They are using us as a punchbag,” he said.

At the same time, White said, some pupils were feeling scared about the future. “We have had conversations with children who feel worried about losing their European friends and whether they will still be able to get their medicines,” he said.

Ed Finch, a teacher at Larkrise primary school in Oxford, commented: “We are required to teach “British values” such as democracy, pride in diversity, respect for the rule of law. How can we present any of these with a straight face?”

Across the UK, teachers report that children are observing the inflammatory language and behaviour of politicians on television and wanting to discuss it in school. Jules White, head of Tanbridge House School in Sussex, said: “The government expects us to champion so called ‘British Values’ yet their behaviour fuels disrespect, aggression and animosity.”