Islam- centric bullying is becoming more are more common in the United States as misconceptions and generalizations about Muslims are being widely circulated. When issues like this one come up it is beneficial to realize where these stereotypes come from. In this case, these false ideas are a direct result of the government and media’s portrayal of Islam as something monolithic and dangerous ever since the popularization of the American-led “War on Terrorism”.

But when did this “War on Terrorism” start, and how did it fuel negative opinions about Islam? Wikipedia summarizes that it was actually a response to the terrorist attacks in the US by the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda on September 11, 2001. This response mainly consisted of the US led coalition of other NATO and non-NATO countries in a campaign to destroy al-Qaeda and other military extremist organizations. The term of the “War on Terror” has led the Western media to argue a global military, political, legal, and conceptual struggle against both organizations designated terrorist and regimes accused of supporting them. It was originally specifically focused on Muslim countries associated with Islamic terrorism organizations including al-Qaeda and like-minded organizations.

Because of this, Islam was made out to be a religion highly affiliated with terrorism even though the religion itself and the majority of its followers in no way support the twisted ideas of these terrorist groups acting under the name of Muslims. In fact, Islam is actually one of the world’s largest growing religions, with Muslims making up 23% of the world population, the majority of them inhabiting the Asia- Pacific region. This nullifies the idea that Islam is most highly concentrated in places that are thought of as terrorist hotbeds, such as the Middle East. Islam is a very diversified religion and the corrupt actions and convictions of a very small minority of its so-called followers should not be the primary representation of it to the general public.

The fear of Islam or dislike of Muslims is known as “Islamophobia.” The Center for Race and Gender explains that, “The term "Islamophobia" was first introduced as a concept in a 1991 Runnymede Trust Report and defined as "unfounded hostility towards Muslims, and therefore fear or dislike of all or most Muslims." The term was coined in the context of Muslims in the UK in particular and Europe in general, and formulated based on the more common "xenophobia" framework.” Although the term “Islamophobia” is usually used in larger, political contexts, it can mean just as much in a child’s life. This is because childhood is a time of development in one’s life in which people’s opinions and actions are paramount in one’s self growth and journey into adulthood.

As the term “Islamophobia” first emerged in the UK, it is, true to form, still an issue there. This is especially apparent after the shooting by two men who claimed to belong to the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda of a French satirical newspaper writer, Charlie Hebdo, on 7 January 2015. “The sole UK charity monitoring anti-Muslim hate crime said it had recorded a “significant” increase in incidents in schools in the wake of the killings in Paris with both parents and teachers reporting verbal and physical attacks against Muslim students...Tell MAMA, which monitors anti-Muslim hate crime in Britain, said it had logged 112 reports of physical and verbal violence in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo killings, including nine incidents which related specifically to schools in locations from West Yorkshire to East Sussex.

In one case, a teenage Muslim pupil at a school in Oxfordshire was allegedly slapped and called a “terrorist” by classmates after a teacher raised the murders of 12 people at the French magazine in a classroom discussion and suggested Muslims should be “challenged” by the display of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. The boy told his parents he did not wish to return to school.”

These incidents show two things: one, that it is now common for the association between all Muslims and Muslim terrorists groups to be made, and two, there is a vital role that teachers play in childrens’ attitudes towards other cultures. This first generalization is very much a result of the way the government has portrayed Muslims, both in the US and the UK, to improve their respective agendas. This unfair treatment towards Muslims in the UK has even led 120 British Muslim activists to sign a letter condemning the ‘Criminalization of Islam’. These activists are witnessing UK politicians exploiting the “Muslim Issue” to gain political capital and distract the public attention from other more immediate issues as the elections approach.

One part of the letter states that, "The latest act of parliament, the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act, threatens to create a "McCarthyite" witch-hunt against Muslims, with nursery workers, schoolteachers and universities expected to look out for signs of increased Islamic practice as signs of "radicalisation". This is a really pressing problem because if the government actively propagates anti- Muslim sentiments it can make it seem as though there is much more danger connected to everyday Muslims than there actually is.

In the negative reaction of many Americans to the building of a Mosque at Park51 near Ground Zero where terrorists attacked on September 11, 2001, a similar sentiment can be seen. What happened on that day was horrendous and of course it caused the loss of many lives and left scars on many American families. These scars could have helped fuel a fear or even hatred of Islam in many cases, but the fear and hatred is pretty unwarranted. Or, at least, misdirected. The opposition should have been detesting the terrorists that were in charge of the bombing, not the guise of Islam they did it under. The feelings of these people, however, are understandable. Not in the fact that they are correct; on the contrary, according to the Centre for Research on Globalization, only 6% of terrorist attacks in the US are by Muslims and that shrinks even more to 1% in the UK. Their feelings are understandable, however, because when experiencing something as traumatic as those terrorists attacks must have caused the public to look for a reason as to why it happened; something to blame.

They probably then were influenced by the media’s portrayals of Islam or misunderstood the religion itself. One of their arguments was that “This is not about freedom of religion, it’s about geography.” What they fail to realize, however, is that the building of a mosque near a place that had formerly been attacked by Muslim terrorists would show a stand taken against those terrorists, showing that Muslims support that community and are, at the same time, supported by the community. By building a mosque there America would be saying: “We support Muslims and recognize them as a part of our community”, instead of how the fuss made about it showed the ignorance of much of the American public when it came to Islam.

Now as for the role of teachers in the propagation of Islamophobia, of course teachers should be able to bring up current events involving Islamic terrorist groups in their classes; in fact, it may be vital that they do, but they must also be careful in the way they present it. As Islamophobia is becoming increasingly prevalent among schoolchildren it must be the teachers’ job to represent Muslims in a fair light  and educate their students about the difference between an Al-Qaeda extremist and one of their Muslim classmates.

Another example concerning the way authority responds to Islamophobia is that of the controversy over the Pledge of Allegiance at a New York High School, discussed in an article by Khaled A Beydoun, an assistant professor of law at the Barry University Dwayne O Andreas School of Law. The school in question is called Pine Bush and on March 18, 2015 a student recited the Pledge in Arabic as part of the school’s “National Foreign Language Week”. “However, an event celebrating American multiculturalism and pledging patriotism was immediately met with anger and offense - driven by the conflation of the Arabic language with Islam, and in turn, inassimilability, violence and terrorism.”

“The pledge should always be said in English”, one student said; an absurd statement, considering how the United States is supposed to be a place for many different types of people and cultures to come together. This controversy showed just how mislead people can be as several parents were offended, “because they had family members killed in Afghanistan,” even though Arabic is not widely spoken in Afghanistan. The opposition was united in thinking that Arabic was anything other than a standalone language, which seems to be a common theme with thoughts connected with Islamophobia. It is unclear in the news reports how many students and families were part of the opposition, but regardless of that, the way the school responded to their reactions may be even more troubling. “A statement from the district apologised "to any students, staff or community members who found this activity disrespectful" and said the reading was intended to "promote the fact that those who speak a language other than English still pledge to salute this great country".

The school is now saying that the pledge will only be read in English in the future. This was definitely the wrong way to react as it accepts the fact that anyone should be offended by a language, especially if their complaints were invalid. “Sadyia Khalique, a spokeswoman for the New York chapter of the Council of American-Islamic Relations, said: "All Americans who value our nation's history of religious and ethnic diversity should be concerned" by the reaction and subsequent apology.” Not only should Americans who value diversity be concerned, but so should anyone who is concerned about childrens’ mental health. Surely Anti- Islamic bullying could lead to negative psychological effects. The Association for Psychological Science interviewed Psychological scientists Dieter Wolke of the University of Warwick and found that, “The ‘bully-victims’ were at greatest risk for health problems in adulthood, over six times more likely to be diagnosed with a serious illness, smoke regularly, or develop a psychiatric disorder compared to those not involved in bullying.”

When Muslim children are being constantly bullied or belittled...it can lead to many disadvantageous consequences. These include a loss of self esteem, feelings of insecurity and embarrassment about their heritage, a hard time making connections with peers, a drop in school performance, and a struggle to develop their ethnic identity. When it comes to ethnic identity, Pia Rebello Britto, a fellow of The Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, reflects that not much is known about the evolution of that of Muslim American children. The first examples of ethnic identity in America focused on European immigrants who came in the 1920s and were able to integrate themselves within the culture. Later and more recently came immigrants of color from Africa, Mexico, or the Caribbean with skin color being the primary source to classify ethnicity.  Being neither mostly European and skin color not being a telling component to classify them in this religion, young Muslims don’t belong to either category category. (3) An ethnic identity is a very important piece in the development of a child’s life which can assist them in making connections with peers, building a community, and developing a sense of self. When children are constantly being told that there is something “weird” or wrong about their religion they might start to believe it.

There are four key contributors to the popularization of Islamophobia: the government’s portrayal of the “War on Terrorism”; the way the media portrays the relationship between Islam and extremism; the way teachers convey the religion; and the parents whose opinions are big influences in their childrens’ lives. All of these contributors are interconnected and all of them play a role in the child’s perception of Islam. The negative ideas about Islam take root in the child’s brain, affect the way he/she sees his/her Muslim peers, and ultimately leads them to treat those peers negatively.

To be clear, a phobia is an irrational fear and that’s exactly what Islamophobia is; an irrational fear of Muslims. In order to overcome this phobia we as a society must use our best weapon, education, to give the public an unbiased and truthful understanding of Islam. We can do this by providing cultural awareness seminars or something similar for faculty and even students in schools. This will bring problems like these out into the open and send the message that we, as a society, will not sit by and let them pass. After all, education  By doing this we can help the increasing number American children that are being bullied as a result. And if we don’t? Well, that’s up for you to consider.