With rising anti-Muslim sentiment across the nation, our children remain the most vulnerable targets of bullying and profiling. Answering rising concerns from parents over school bullying and how to respond to it, KARAMAH presented a seminar titled “Teach your Child Advocacy Skills.” On January 17, 2016, Aisha Rahman spoke at the Muslim Community Center in Silver Spring as a part of the Center’s Community Education Series on Bullying and Advocacy. Rahman addressed an audience of young Muslim girls and boys, and concerned parents and explained KARAMAH’s advocacy model on the national level and on a case-by-case basis.
KARAMAH’s Advocacy Model
In terms of KARAMAH’s advocacy at the national level, KARAMAH has participated in federal interagency meetings convened by the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice (DOJ) and presented examples of extreme discrimination against Muslim girls at public schools, discrimination against foreign students at state universities and harassment of Muslim women in the army and in government positions. In 2015, KARAMAH raised its concerns before DOJ and the Department of Education over rising prejudice in educational institutions. In the State of Tennessee, for example, there have been attempts at banning the education of Islam in history and social studies classes in public schools. Doing so denies the impact of Islam on world history and creates a hostile environment that will lead to the marginalization of Muslim students and might cause anti-Muslim bullying.
KARAMAH also engaged with the FBI and strongly opposed its web-based program aimed at middle school and high school students. The program included “games” and exercises that perpetuate stereotypes and unreliable indicators that certain youth are “at risk” of radicalization. KARAMAH joined a coalition of civil rights and faith groups that advocated for the cancellation of the program because we believed that it would exacerbate the already rampant bullying and discrimination against Muslim students and students of color.
How to React to School Bullying? Report it. Protect Yourself Online
Rahman walked the participants through case studies to discuss and analyze cases of school bullying and steps students should take if they are bullied. Most children who are bullied rarely report it to their teachers or even tell their parents. Rahman advised that victims of school bullying should: 1- tell their parents; 2- tell the school administrators; 3-report the incident on www.stopbullying.gov. She also advised parents to keep an open relationship with their children to detect signs of bullying and to allow the children to tell them if they are being bullied. Parents should also always document incidents and put their complaints in writing, said Rahman. This can be done by sending an email to the child’s teacher or school administrators.
Most of the bullying that happens these days happens on the Internet and social media platforms. Rahman told the audience about a recent case in a D.C Charter school where 2 students sent a bomb threat from a Muslim student’s email account. The Muslim student forgot to log off his email account. Therefore, as a protective measure, Rahman advised the audience to always log off their email and social media accounts and password protect their devices. Finally, Rahman encouraged the youth in the audience to share their stories and experiences with bullying with KARAMAH.
The Muslim American Stories Project
KARAMAH has been collecting stories from Muslim American youth who have experienced bullying, either by students, faculty or by institutions as a part of our Muslim American Stories project. This phenomenon is exacerbating and is undeniably having a psychological toll on students and parents alike. KARAMAH will continue its efforts advocating against bullying to reveal the true facet of the civil rights experience of Muslim Americans and protect our children.
Help us in this endeavor. Send your stories to hessayegh@karamah.org .
For more info on Muslim American Stories Project, click here.
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