MA Bullying Report of Massachusetts Muslim Youth: Standing Up & Speaking Out Standing Up & Speaking Out

In this report, the Massachusetts Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MA) presents its analysis of a 2019-2020 school climate survey of Massachusetts Muslim Youth. The survey was administered to 190 students across the Commonwealth. The purpose of this report is to understand the extent to which Islamophobia, defined as the closed-minded prejudice against or hatred of Islam and Muslims, manifests in the school environment in the form of bullying and discrimination. Additionally, the survey examines the lived experiences of Massachusetts Muslim students in grades 6-12 and the issues they face, particularly as a consequence of their real or perceived Muslim identities. As such, this report focuses on anti-Muslim bullying: the unwanted, aggressive behavior among school-aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance that is or can be repeated and is based on the student’s Islamic faith. This report features a number of case summaries describing actual complaints that CAIR-MA received