Muslim students face higher rates of bullying in US – Watchdog

Civil liberties group CAIR says around two in five Muslim students have faced some form of bulling, more than twice the national average. Two of every five Muslim students in California face endure bullying, a number that more than doubles the national average, according to an anti-Islamophobia watchdog. The findings, presented by the Council on […]

Civil liberties group CAIR says around two in five Muslim students have faced some form of bulling, more than twice the national average.

Two of every five Muslim students in California face endure bullying, a number that more than doubles the national average, according to an anti-Islamophobia watchdog.

The findings, presented by the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) civil rights group, are based on surveys conducted with 1,500 Muslim students aged between 11 and 18, the group said in a press release. CAIR stated that 42 percent of Muslim students in California had faced “some form” of bullying.

“Survey results show that Muslim students feel less safe, welcome and respected in their schools than other students, with 40.4 percent of respondents reporting experiencing some form of bullying, more than double the national average,” CAIR stated.

A similar study conducted for 2017 found that more than half of Muslim students in California had experienced some type of bullying.

The full report – “Singled Out: Islamophobia in the Classroom and the Impact of Discrimination on Muslim Students” – will be released next Wednesday. As of 2014, a survey found that Muslims made up only around one percent of California’s population, but nearly 3.5 million Muslims reside in the United States.

The findings of CAIR’s new study come amid an uptick in Islamophobia nationwide, much of buoyed by the growth of the far right and, according to critics, energized by US President Donald Trump’s frequent resort to anti-Muslim rhetoric.

Contacted by TRT World, the White House press office did not reply to a request for a comment on this article.

During his presidential campaign, Trump vowed to shut down Muslim entry into the US and floated the idea of creating a database tracking Muslims in the country.

Since coming to office in January 2017, Trump has repeatedly taken aim at Muslims, attempting to ban travellers from several Muslim-majority countries and slashing the number of refugees – many of them coming from Muslim-majority countries -allowed to resettle in the country.

Earlier this year, in March, San Diego Unified School District settled a lawsuit with five families who had challenged the district’s “Anti-Islamophobia Initiative”, an effort to reduce bullying targeting Muslim students.

Those who filed the lawsuit claimed the initiative gave special treatment to Muslim students, although Muslims and other minorities often face harassment and hate crimes at disproportionately high rates.