| How The White House Is Helping The Sikh Community Avoid Bullying |
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| HUFFPOST LIVE Duration: 05:46 How The White House Is Helping The Sikh Community Avoid Bullying |
Promoting Bullying Prevention Awareness in the Sikh American Community
June 19, 2015 by Maulik Pancholy
Summary: On June 8, 2015, the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and the Sikh Coalition held a Bullying Prevention Sikh Google Hangout. As part of her capstone project in the E3! Ambassadors Program, Naureen Singh organized the discussion to educate Sikh American youth, parents, and community organizers about the resources available from the federal government to combat bullying.
On June 8, 2015, the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and the Sikh Coalition held a Bullying Prevention Sikh Google Hangout. As part of her capstone project in the E3! Ambassadors Program, Naureen Singh organized the discussion to educate Sikh American youth, parents, and community organizers about the resources available from the federal government to combat bullying.
Many Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) students face bullying and harassment based on their appearance, including many Sikh turbaned youth. According to a 2014 Sikh Coalition study, nearly 70 percent of turbaned Sikh youth in Fresno, California reported experiencing bullying and harassment. In addition, a 2012 study found that half of the 163 Asian American New York City public school students surveyed reported experiencing some kind of bias-based harassment.
Numbers like these are simply unacceptable. As someone who understands firsthand what it feels like to be ostracized or shamed because of skin color, sexual orientation, or any other number of perceived differences, I’ve been working passionately with my fellow Commissioners and the Initiative staff to make sure our schools are a place where all students feel safe in order to have access to the education they deserve.
During the Google Hangout, I joined Gurjot Kaur from the Sikh Coalition to share the obstacles Sikh Americans face when dealing with bullying, to highlight some of their personal stories, and to discuss effective measures to respond to bullying when it occurs. Federal resources like StopBullying.gov serve as a valuable tool where readers can find information on how to prevent bullying such as campaigns and toolkits. In addition, the AAPI Bullying Prevention Task Force was created to help ensure that AAPIs are aware of the federal resources available to them and that the federal government is equipped to respond to the unique needs of our community. To that end, the Task Force is leading bullying prevention listening sessions around the country to learn firsthand about the experiences of AAPI students.
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Related Article:
http://www.sikhnet.com/news/white-house-starts-anti-bullying-campaign-sikhs-other-minorities