There has been a surge in Islamophobia in the United States recently. Even the children are being targeted and called ‘terrorists’ in their schools.
However, this has not resulted in any concrete action by the authorities.
Mic interviewed four school-going Muslim children, who are based in New York, to ask about their experience in the classroom. The participants included 11-year-old Moheeb, 8-year-old Shahrazad, 10-year-old Enan and 11-year-old Saif.
The children do not know anything about US President Donald Trump except that he is the president and wants to ban Muslim.
However, this does not bode well for Shahrazad. "I have family in Yemen," Shahrazad said. "[They] can't come if Donald Trump makes another ban. When I pray, I ask God to help America and Yemen."
Despite their lack of the awareness of the political situation, the children are fed up constant bullying by their classmates and lack of response from schools’ administration.
Moheeb recalled that two of his classmates have called him a ‘terrorist’. He even complained to his principals and teachers but no action was taken.
Now, he prefers ignoring the bullying.
"I feel mad, because I don't think [students and teachers] understand how I feel," Moheeb said. "I sometimes ignore [the bullying]. If I cry about it, they'll do [it] more."
About 42 percent of Muslims families have reportedly faced anti-Muslim bullying, according to a study by Institute for Social Policy and Understanding.
To make matters worse, one in every four reported the incident came from teachers or other school officials.
Another survey revealed that Muslim Families are most likely to be bullied in US. The data showed that about 57% Muslim families have never faced bullying as opposed to 75% Jewish families, 94% Catholic families, 80% Protestant families, 99% non-affiliated and 90% general public.
Respondents included people who have children who attend K-12 public school