Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Local Muslims learn how to deal with bullying
WEST CHESTER >> Both Muslim students and their parents learned how to best combat bullying and discrimination, during Sunday’s all-day conference at a local mosque.
Thirty middle and high schoolers heard from a series of national and local speakers at the Islamic Society of Chester County on Pottstown Pike.
“We’re training them to answer the difficult question about Islam and Muslims,” said Denver’s Tim Brauhm, of national organization, the Islamic Networks Group. “Youth don’t have an encyclopedic knowledge of their faith.”
Brauhm talked about a recent “uptick” in bullying. He said that while faith is a tough topic for
adults to discuss, it is even more difficult for teenagers.
“Being a young person isn’t particularly easy anyway and students are experiencing a great deal of discrimination of their faith,” Brauhm said.
Several students said they had never faced bullying, but instead said that other students had approached them in a “joking” manner.
Garnet Valley fourthgrader Asad said that as
a kindergartener, fellow students had treated him differently because of his brown skin.
Intervention by parents and teachers reversed a bad situation.
“They wouldn’t let me do something – sit with them,” Asad said, about other students. “We did talk it out with a teacher and they didn’t do it again. After that, we were friends.”
Zehra Wamiq, of the Delaware Valley Speakers Bureau, said that bullying is not something new. Two of her three children have been bullied because of their faith in Islam.
“People are not informed,” she said. “There is a lack of information. American Muslims are the most diverse group of people of faith.”
ING, with its headquarters in San Jose, has addressed bullying and discrimination since its founding 24 years ago.
“It doesn’t matter who is in the White House, (discrimination) has been going on for a long time,” Brauhm said . “It’s always been there.”
While parents learned of taking responsibility, and rules and rights, in a separate room at the community
center, students split up into small groups.
Youth learned how to better speak publicly and might soon become certified speakers. They also learned how to discuss their religion.
“We give them the correct information and they act with confidence about their religion and then how to educate others,” Wamiq said.
Students discussed how they were bullied through peer exchange and how to reach out across religious lines through brainstorming. They took part in skits, while role-playing.
Acting out physically is not the answer.
“We teach how to respond well and how to handle a situation,” Brauhm said. “What not to do is just as important as what to do.”
Asheq Fazlullah, public speaker affiliated with the Delaware Valley Speakers Bureau, said Muslim children are going to be asked many more questions.
“It’s important for kids to feel and understand themselves and to express their identity,” he said.
Students were taught at Sunday’s seminar to become leaders and better speakers able to give a fiveto 10-minute presentation.
“There is a huge interest and demand from the American public to engage in this conversation,” Fazlullah said.
With 1.6 billion Muslims worldwide, group leaders hope to educate students and parents about how to talk about their faith on a personal level.
“You can have alternative facts but it’s tough to have an alternative experience,” Brauhm said. “In the classroom, students are called on to be the representation of the entire faith, especially when talking about a religion.”
Salim Bootwala, local executive secretary, said that the local community as a whole has not received “bad or hateful messages” but rather, neighbors have reached out.
“We have received so much support,” Bootwala said. “We’ve received so many emails and phone calls and they’re visiting us. We’re lucky to be in this county.”