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Group Releases Anti-Bullying Back-to-School Guide for Muslim Students
9-04-2019
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Preparing Muslim students for schools, a local American Muslim civil rights group has released a new guide to help Muslim students know their rights and counter bullying, Maryland Matters reported.
“Every child deserves to feel safe and supported in their learning environment, and that includes Muslim students,” Zainab Chaudry, Director of Maryland Outreach office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), said in a statement.
“This guide is one component of a larger initiative being developed to eradicate bullying in schools. It is intended as a resource to educate, uplift and empower young members of our communities to maintain a proud and unapologetic Muslim American identity.”
The guide, available online and in print, covers the definition of bullying and students’ rights, as well as how CAIR can lend support.
The civil rights organization has reported an uptick in complaints about bullying of Muslim youth in recent years, particularly since the 2016 presidential election.
Although there are no official figures, the United States is believed to be home to between 6-8 million Muslims.
Nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of visibly Muslim respondents told the Pew Research Center in 2017 that they’ve experienced at least one instance of religious discrimination in the past year.
The Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, a research firm that focuses on Muslim American issues, found in 2017 that Muslims were about four times as likely as the general public to report that their school-aged children were being bullied.
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