The Council on American-Islamic Relations is the largest American Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States. CAIR’s mission is to enhance understanding of Islam, protect civil liberties, promote justice, and empower American Muslims. CAIR California is the organization’s largest and oldest chapter, with offices in the Greater Los Angeles Area, the Sacramento Valley / Central California, San Diego, and the San Francisco Bay Area.
There are several key findings from the results of CAIR-CA’s 2021 survey that show that Muslim students in California continue to report high levels of Islamophobic bullying, harassment, and discrimination by both peers and adults, both in-person and online. Respondents reported that these experiences have a negative impact on their educational experience and their comfort levels at school.
47.1% of respondents reported being bullied for being Muslim in the year-and-half period prior to the global COVID-19 pandemic.
However, the switch to remote learning and the decrease in in-person interactions amongst students significantly reduced reported incidents of bullying to 26.22%. Pre-pandemic rates of bullying increased by 7 percentage points when compared to CAIR-CA’s 2019 report, which evaluated the school climate for California Muslim students between 2016 and mid-2018. Our current survey results show that the decrease in in-person interactions during the COVID-19 pandemic correlated to a decrease in all forms of bullying incidents.
55.73% of all respondents reported feeling unsafe, unwelcome, or uncomfortable at school because of their Muslim identity.
This is the highest reported level since CAIR-CA began conducting its biennial surveys in 2013. Furthermore, nearly 20% of respondents reported missing school because of those feelings. This is an upward trend from the 13.76% of respondents who reported missing school in our 2019 report.
Female respondents also had their unique challenges when it came to feeling comfortable at school reported their hijab was tugged, pulled, or offensively touched.
Approximately one-third of respondents experienced or witnessed some form of cyberbullying.
During the period from August 2018 to August 2021, 29.72% of respondents reported that a student at school made offensive comments or posts about Islam or Muslims directly to them on social media. This is up from 12.19% of respondents in CAIR-CA’s 2019 report. Additionally, 35.68% responded that other students at their school made offensive comments about Islam or Muslims in general on social media.
Nearly one in four respondents (23.50%) reported that a teacher, administrator, or other adult at their school made offensive comments about Islam or Muslims.
Muslim students reported high levels of Islamophobic harassment and comments from teachers and other school personnel who are responsible for the well-being of these students.
Pre-pandemic, 60.81% of those who were themselves bullied reported seeing another student get bullied for being Muslim in comparison to only 21.54% of those who were not themselves bullied. This data suggests that some schools allow bullying to go unchecked thus encouraging more bullying while other schools take a more proactive approach to creating an inclusive and more welcome environment where bullying is not tolerated.
The responses to CAIR-CA’s survey suggest that Islamophobic harassment, discrimination, and bullying continue to be real issues that Muslim students face on a daily basis. These findings present insight into how educators can combat Islamophobia and bullying to ensure that Muslim students have a positive educational experience.
For example, the drop in bullying numbers due to the COVID-19 pandemic provides insight into how educators can vigilantly and immediately address incidents of bullying. The decrease in unsupervised in-person interactions caused by remote learning led to a decrease in bullying in all forms. Educators and administrators who are aware of bullying incidents must immediately act to increase adult supervision of the aggressor and physically separate the bully from the victim to decrease in-person interactions.
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. It is evident that school districts are similarly capable of being responsive to the experiences and wellbeing of Muslim students. CAIR-CA urges our schools to make the changes necessary to ensure the wellbeing of Muslim students and all vulnerable students are protected. In addition to taking immediate steps to address specific incidents of bullying, schools should conduct a thorough assessment of the school’s environment as it pertains to Islamophobia and anti-Muslim bias and bullying; improving and implementing thorough anti-bullying policies and training; and implementing curriculum that is anti-racist and inclusive.
PURPOSE AND BACKGROUND
