(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — A local Muslim advocacy organization reports a sharp increase in the number of phone calls about religiously motivated bullying.
The Chicago office of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) says the number of reported incidents of bullying in suburban schools has risen dramatically in the past month.
"It's every day we're getting calls from different family members, different school districts throughout the suburbs of Chicago. Usually they come in gradually throughout the school year. To see this many come in during a one month period is really alarming to us," said CAIR-Chicago staff attorney Emma Melton.
Executive Director Ahmed Rehab said he doesn't know the root cause of the bullying problem, but he suspects pent-up stress from the pandemic has been hard on students and staff.
He added that's no excuse for some of the behavior that's been reported to CAIR-Chicago.
"That's no excuse for a coach to call a kid ‘Allah.’ I understand that administrators might be going through some pressures, but again, it's no excuse for a substitute teacher to engage a student and harass her and berate her over how she looks," Rehab said.
To combat the rise in bullying Rehab said CAIR-Chicago is starting a website called healsters.org. The site has resources for students, school staff, and parents to combat bullying.
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