September 30, 2011 – ING’s Work Helps to Prevent Bullying of Muslim Students/BBB Accreditation

Jews across the world celebrated Rosh Hashanah from September 28th until September 30, 2011.  ING would like to wish all of our Jewish friends a blessed and healthy New Year. L’Shana Tova!

Policy Brief Recommendations Show that ING’s Work Helps to Prevent

Bullying of Muslim Students

While no federal agency collects data on harassment and discrimination experienced by children based on their religion, Muslim and Sikh community groups are increasingly documenting cases of harassment and bullying.

In March 2010, Muslim Mothers Against Violence surveyed 78 Muslim male and female youth between 12 and 17 years of age in Northern Virginia about their experiences in school.  Eighty percent (80%) responded that they had been subjected to bigoted taunts and epithets and harassment, with three-quarters indicating the harassment had occurred more than once.  Fifty percent (50%) report being called names in front of teachers and school administrators.

This mirrors similar statistics cited in a March 2011 article in the San Francisco Chronicle, where a local imam asked 100 Muslim Boy Scouts how many had been called a terrorist, even in jest. Eighty hands went up. Many said the harassment regularly stressed them out. Twenty said they have trouble sleeping at night.

It is in this context that we urge our readers to read the recently released policy brief by the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU) titled Global Battleground or School Playground: The Bullying of America’s Muslim Children. Click here to read the full report.

The brief examines the context and importance of the problem of bullying of Muslim students and the current state of knowledge and interventions and ends by making policy recommendations “that if implemented at the individual, school, community, and legislative levels will help improve the situation and lead to a greater acceptance of Muslim children and youth.”

Some of those recommendations reinforce the conviction that ING’s work helps to prevent bullying of Muslim students; work such as:

• ING’s long-standing Islamic Speakers Bureau that supplements education about Muslims and their faith through live speakers;
• ING’s cultural diversity trainings for teachers and administrations that build cultural awareness and develop cultural competency skills for working with American Muslim students, their parents, and their community;
• ING’s interfaith speakers bureau program that is based on neighborhood partnerships and generates interfaith dialogue, education, and mutual respect; and
• Our video portraits of Muslims who express their identities and seek to educate the public about American Muslims.
• Working with prominent Muslim organizations such as the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), and the Northern and Southern California chapters of the Council on American Islamic relations (CAIR), ING’s response to bullying has also included:

• For Muslim youth, strengthening their identities and building confidence by learning how to answer difficult questions about Islam and Muslims and how to stand up against bullying through collaborative bullying prevention programs such as the federally sponsored programs Stop Bullying Now and You Have the Power; and
• For Muslim youth and parents, learning about their parent and student rights when responding to bullying with school administrators.

To view ING’s recent webinar on bullying prevention for Muslim youth and parents, go to Bullying Prevention Webinar.

Interfaith Speakers Bureau

The Interfaith Speakers Bureau gives students the opportunity to meet and learn firsthand from guest speakers who represent the five major world religions: Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Hinduism. Each panelist provides an overview of his or her practice and tradition, and then they collectively address a topic of the teacher’s choice such as shared values, living the faith, or one of five contemporary issues: modernity, the environment, pluralism, extremism and fundamentalism, or separation of church and state.

The Muslim and Jewish panel discusses common interests such as anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and security issues as two of the largest religious minorities in the U.S.

Click here to request an interfaith panel today.

Islamic Speakers Bureau

Muslim speakers from the Islamic Speakers Bureau provide presentations about Muslims and their practices and traditions. The ING presentation “Getting to Know American Muslims and Their Faith” gives an overview of Muslim demographics here and around the world, presents the history of Muslims in the U.S., and looks at contemporary issues such as pluralism, women’s rights and Islam’s co
mmonalities with other world religions.

Other available presentations include “Islamic Contributions to Civilization,” “The History of Muslims in the U.S.,” and “Muslim Women in the U.S. and Around the World,” all of which supplement Social Studies Content Standards.

Click here to request a presentation today.

ING Accredited by the Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance

(BBB-WGA) Since 2008;

Encourages its Affiliates to seek the Same Accreditation

With growing demand for assurance of the integrity of American Muslim charities, ING worked with the largest Muslim legal organization in the country, Muslim Advocates, to become one of the first non-profit organizations to successfully complete the Muslim Charities Accreditation Program.  Accredited since 2008, ING had to complete a rigorous review by lawyers at Muslim Advocates and received accreditation by the Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance (BBB-WGA).

ING is now sponsoring an educational seminar led by Muslim Advocates’ attorney Mohamed Sabur encouraging ING affiliates to pursue their BBB-WGA accreditation.

Launched in August 2008, the Muslim Advocates Charities Accreditation Program is the first and only program to provide Muslim charities with legal guidance and one-on-one technical assistance to promote best practices in charity management and compliance with federal laws.  For non-profit charitable organizations interested in the program, read more about best management practices required for accreditation, sign up for an upcoming free educational seminar in your region, and participate in the Muslim Charities Accreditation Program by clicking here or by contacting Mohamed Sabur, Counsel for the Program to Strengthen Muslim Charities, at (415) 692-1484 or [email protected]