HIGHLIGHTS
A film titled “Who are the Sikhs?” released this week to prevent bullying nationwide
Lack of understanding a key problem
Half the nation’s Sikh population lives in California
May 27, 2015: KERMAN --Standing before a Kerman High School class on Wednesday, Raj Sra talked about being the only Punjabi kid at his Tulare schools growing up.
He was called many names.
“Everything you can imagine: raghead, camel jockey,” Sra said, who now works as an information systems and technology administrator for the Fresno County Office of Education. “People had no idea where India was. They thought anybody with a turban was Muslim or from Arabia. It was just some far-off place.”
Fresno County school officials, in partnership with local Sikh leaders, are working to change that skewed perception. Together, they produced a five-minute educational film about Sikh culture and dress that debuted Wednesday before a Punjabi language class. Principal Pam Sellick said Kerman High is one of only two public schools across the state that offer Punjabi as a language elective.
Filming the movie was spurred by a report released last year, titled “Go Home, Terrorist,” that documented the bullying of Sikh American students. The report was compiled by the Sikh Coalition, a national organization created after 9/11 in response to discrimination and violence against Sikh Americans.
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A TURBAN DOES NOT MEAN TERRORIST.
Fresno County Superintendent of Schools Jim Yovino
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Researchers surveyed more than 500 Sikh schoolchildren at forums in Fresno, Boston, Indianapolis and Seattle and found that around half of them were bullied. Fresno County had the second-highest percentage of students who reported being bullied (54.5%) after Indianapolis (55.8%).
At a Fresno State forum last spring that addressed such bullying, Simran Kaur, western regional director of the Sikh Coalition, recalled a young college student who grew up attending Fresno schools. He talked about how he became suicidal after constant bullying related to his traditional dress.
“In many ways, we all felt like we had let that young man down,” Kaur said. “And so I think that was educational for us all.”
At the forum, Fresno County Superintendent of Schools Jim Yovino decided his office would create an educational film with the Sikh Coalition.
“It became very apparent to me that part of the issue is just lack of understanding,” Yovino said. “We have this very proud community that’s had significant contributions in our Valley for many years, but yet they were being identified by wearing a turban. And what does that even mean?”
The new educational film — titled “Who are the Sikhs?” — aims to answer some basic questions. In the film, Valley students and Kaur provide a brief description of Sikh culture and its articles of faith. Among them: the turban, a traditional head covering for Sikh’s long uncut hair, and the kirpan, a ceremonial dagger meant to symbolize a commitment to defend those who are in danger or oppressed.
Kaur said half of the nation’s Sikh population lives in California and of the 25 million Sikhs across the globe — which make up the world’s fifth-largest religion — about 25,000 live in the central San Joaquin Valley. Sikhs are often mistaken as Muslim, which follow Islam, a different religion.
Many Sikhs live in the Kerman area. School officials said about 8% of students at Kerman Unified School District are Sikh.
Sellick said teachers review the importance of not bullying others throughout normal curriculum as opposed to putting students through a special program. Kaur wants to see references to turbans and other Sikh articles of faith included in language prepared at the state level that outlines how teachers can help prevent bullying.
Kaur said while most Americans’ views of Sikhs is in a “better place” than it was after 9/11, there is still a lot of work to do. She’s proud to be a part of making “Who are the Sikhs?,” which she considers an answer to curbing continued discrimination and violence.
Of the movie, lifelong Valley resident Yovino said, “I learned more about the culture in five minutes than I have in the past.”
He hopes the footage starts conversations about Sikh culture in schools across the nation. Instead of forming a negative opinion out of ignorance, Yovino said he wants children to feel comfortable asking questions.
“That’s how you break these stereotypes, these issues of how we view people or view our world,” he said.
The film is available on the YouTube channel of the Fresno County Office of Education. The free video can also be obtained by emailing [email protected]. [View it here below: ED]
Yovino has already shared the video with all of California’s superintendents of schools.
“As we teach tolerance, we have to teach understanding — that’s really what it’s about,” Yovino said of the film. “So I’m hopeful it ends up in every school.”
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