PRESS RELEASE: CAIR-Chicago Condemns bullying, assault, and battery incident at Glenside Middle School
(CHICAGO, IL, 1/29/2024) – The Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, (CAIR-Chicago), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today expressed deep concern regarding a disturbing bullying incident that took place at Glenside Middle School in Glendale Heights, Illinois last Thursday, January 25th. The incident, which was filmed on various camera angles and shared on social media, depicts a boy grabbing a female student, who wears a hijab, by her head and violently holding her in a headlock before shoving her to the ground. The incident, which appears to constitute assault and battery, happened in full view of a crowd of students, several of whom had their phone cameras out to record the incident. The shots cut out as the girl sat on the floor of the hallway in shock and fear.
Community members report that the female student is from Saudi Arabia and has only been in the United States for two months and that the boy in question was involved in another bullying incident last year. That incident was not reported but was investigated by the school.
While CAIR-Chicago wishes to thank the principal, superintendent, and the Glendale Heights police department for their assurance in handling this incident with the urgency it deserves, we call on them to ensure that the investigation is carried out swiftly and with appropriate transparency to assuage the understandable angst in the affected community and to regain lost trust.
CAIR-Chicago is also calling on the school and the district to effectively address the larger culture of bullying, which admittedly is not limited to this school and district but is a general and intractable phenomenon.
“Bullying involves more than the perpetrator. Bystanders who watch and accept, or even reward this behavior, makes it possible for the bully to carry out their attack. In this case, we see bystander students reinforcing the terrible ambush, filming it, and even gloating about it on social media. This phenomenon is not uncommon. It is a negative aspect of school culture that must be addressed on a larger scale,” CAIR-Chicago’s Operation Manager and former CPS school teacher, Maggie Slavin said.
CAIR-Chicago had previously warned of an increase in anti-bullying, harassment, and discrimination incidents against Muslim students over the last couple of years.
SEE: WBBM: Reports increase of anti-Muslim bullying at area schools: advocacy group
This prompted the launch of a dedicated anti-bullying project, Healsters.org, in October of 2021. At the public launch, CAIR-Chicago’s Executive Director, Ahmed Rehab, stated:
"Every bullying incident is heartbreaking. But for every case reported, there are probably dozens that go unreported. Bullying is a pandemic that affects not just Muslim students, it must be comprehensively addressed by administrators, teachers, parents, students, and community organizations working in tandem. Safety, dignity, and respect are basic human rights. Every child deserves to feel excited about going to school - to feel embraced, not embarrassed, in their sacred space of learning – to pursue their dreams do not live out their worst nightmares. Only together can we make this a reality for everyone. Our new initiative, Healsters.org, will seek to do just that by engaging affected parties and building genuine partnerships to offer key services, awareness, and advocacy.”
CAIR-Chicago has reached out to the school district to address the case and offer sensitivity and awareness anti-bullying training; it also reached out to thank MSI Mosque in Glendale Heights for being a local and resourceful partner on this matter.
CAIR-Chicago is the Chicago Chapter of America’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Our mission is to defend civil rights, fight bigotry, and promote tolerance.
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CONTACT: Ahmed Rehab, Executive Director of CAIR Chicago, 202-870-0166, arehab@cair.com; Maggie Slavin, Operations Manager of CAIR-Chicago, 815-590-3991, mslavin@cair.com; Erin P.R. Davis, MCM, Communications Coordinator of CAIR-Chicago, 773-802-8786, epdavis@cair.com.