Report shows US Muslim students feel unsafe in schools

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), United States has published a new report documenting bullying and discrimination of Muslim students in California schools showing that more than half of Muslim students surveyed said they experienced faith-based bullying. The figure is more than twice the rate of the national statistics, according to the report published yesterday […]

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), United States has published a new report documenting bullying and discrimination of Muslim students in California schools showing that more than half of Muslim students surveyed said they experienced faith-based bullying.

The figure is more than twice the rate of the national statistics, according to the report published yesterday by the California chapter of CAIR. 

According to the report, some 55% of all respondents surveyed reported feeling unsafe, unwelcome, or uncomfortable at school because of their Muslim identity. 

Almost half of respondents (47%) reported being bullied for being Muslim in the year-and-half period prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Post-pandemic, some 26% of students reported being bullied as a result of the decrease in in-person interactions amongst students. 

“Muslim students continue to face high levels of Islamophobic bullying at school,” said CAIR-California CEO Hussam Ayloush. 

“It is disturbing that nearly one in three female respondents who wear a hijab, reported their hijab was tugged, pulled or offensively touched. As students have resumed in-person learning, school districts must take proactive steps in these initial months to ensure that learning environments across the state are free from hostility and discrimination for their Muslim populations.”  

“School districts’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic proves that these systems are capable of changing their entire educational model to be more responsive to the well-being of their students,” said CAIR-Los Angeles Civil Rights Managing Attorney and the author of the report, Amr Shabaik.

“It is evident that school districts are similarly capable of being responsive to the experiences and wellbeing of Muslim students. We urge schools and districts to take the proactive steps recommended in our report to ensure all students have uninterrupted access to their education, regardless of their religion or background,” Shabaik added.