The Hidden Cost of Islamophobia: Bullying, Mental Health, and the Fight for Belonging
By Daisy Khan
25% of Muslim Kids Report Their Teacher as the Bully — Schools Have a Crisis. The national bullying rate hovers around 19–20 percent. For Muslim students in K–12 settings, that number jumps to between 27 and 50 percent—nearly double. But the statistic that should alarm every parent who drops their child at school trusting educators to protect them is this: in 25% of bullying cases involving Muslim youth, teachers are identified as the perpetrators. Not other students. Not anonymous online trolls. The adults being paid to educate children are targeting them because of their faith. In this episode of WISE Women with Daisy Khan, with host Dr. Daisy Khan, Dr. Nadia Ansary maps the crisis and offers evidence-based solutions that require institutions to choose accountability over comfort.
Dr. Ansary does not shy away from these numbers. As professor and chair of the Department of Psychology at Rider University, with a PhD in developmental psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University, she has spent years researching bias-based and cyberbullying with a particular focus on Islamophobia in schools. Her work documents what Muslim families already know, but mainstream education often avoids acknowledging: schools are microcosms of society. When society produces overwhelmingly negative media narratives about Muslims, when politicians weaponize fear for political gain, and when xenophobia becomes policy, children absorb those messages and bring them into classrooms. So do teachers.
Racialization of Religion Makes Brown Skin the Target
Islamophobia does not exist in isolation. Dr. Ansary explains that it is deeply connected to xenophobia and anti-immigrant bias. Being a person of color increases the likelihood of being marginalized. In recent decades, religion and race have become conflated, producing what researchers call the racialization of religion. Students are targeted based on how they look rather than their actual beliefs.
After 9/11, Sikhs were attacked because perpetrators equated turbans with Islam. Hindu students experience similar targeting. The categories collapse into “white and Christian” versus “brown and other.” Black communities may fall into either category depending on visible religious markers. This overlap intensifies harm. Students are not targeted for one identity alone, but for multiple intersecting identities simultaneously.
For Muslim girls who wear hijab, bullying frequently becomes physical. Scarves are pulled. Head coverings are touched without consent. Research shows Muslim women experience higher rates of discrimination than Muslim men, largely because hijab makes their faith visible. These acts are not harmless teasing. They are violations of bodily autonomy and direct attacks on identity—no different from ripping a kippah off a Jewish student or tearing a cross from someone’s neck. The psychological impact is deep and enduring.
A Mental Health Crisis Hidden Behind Stigma
Research consistently links discrimination to elevated anxiety and depression. Bias-based harassment targets core identity, undermining self-esteem and disrupting healthy identity formation. These experiences rarely occur just once. The expectation of recurrence creates hypervigilance and chronic stress.
Muslim students often navigate bicultural or tricultural identities—Muslim-American, immigrant-American, or combinations shaped by family history. Managing that “hyphen” is already demanding. When discrimination is added, particularly from authority figures, the psychological toll intensifies. Adolescence already involves neurological, hormonal, and social upheaval. Layering identity-based harassment onto that process can overwhelm even resilient students.
Warning signs include school avoidance, declining academic performance, changes in eating or sleeping, irritability, anxiety, depression, and loss of interest in previously enjoyed activities. Yet many Muslim children remain silent. Dr. Ansary’s research identifies three reasons: shame, fear of burdening already-stressed parents, and concern that parental intervention may worsen the situation. Stigma around mental health in some communities further isolates students from support.
80% Negative Media Coverage Fuels the Terrorist Narrative
Schools are not insulated from society. Research shows that approximately 80% of media coverage about Muslims is negative, often linking Islam to violence. When these narratives dominate news cycles and political rhetoric, bias spikes in schools and workplaces.
Children absorb these messages and repeat them in hallways and classrooms. Adults are not immune. Teachers consume the same media. Without training to recognize and interrupt bias, those narratives shape behavior. The 25% teacher-perpetrator statistic is not an anomaly—it is evidence of systemic failure.
Bullying vs. Harassment: Why Definitions Matter
Bullying involves three elements: malicious intent, an imbalance of power, and repetition. That imbalance is why telling children to “work it out” fails—by definition, they cannot.
Harassment goes further. It targets a protected identity such as religion, race, or disability. Calling Muslim students terrorists, pulling hijabs, or making disparaging comments about faith constitutes harassment, not just bullying. Schools have legal obligations to respond. Too often, they do not.
Evidence-Based Solutions Require Institutional Commitment
Dr. Ansary’s research identifies three pillars of effective intervention.
First, a whole-school approach. Anti-bias efforts must be embedded in curriculum, culture, and daily practice—not confined to assemblies or posters.
Second, the school climate. Effective prevention is visible when students themselves intervene and say, “We don’t do that here.” Peer upstanding is more powerful than adult policing.
Third, training and accountability. Teachers are human and carry biases. Training is essential. Allegations must be investigated. Consequences must follow. Silence communicates that harm does not matter.
Restorative justice practices outperform punishment alone. They help perpetrators understand impact while supporting both harmed students and those acting out of distress.
One Girl Turned Bullying Into Legislation
After being disinvited from a birthday party because a parent labeled her a terrorist, one Muslim girl’s grades dropped and her confidence eroded. Eventually, with her mother’s support, she organized others who had been targeted. Together, they took their story to City Council and helped pass legislation declaring their town Islamophobia-free. It is a story of resilience—not because harm occurred, but because the response transformed pain into protection for others.
Dr. Ansary remains hopeful. Bias is increasingly recognized as systemic rather than isolated. Communities are beginning to reject dehumanization and demand equity. The desire for dignity, safety, and belonging is universal.
An episode for parents, educators, and community leaders seeking to understand the impact of bias and how to build school environments where belonging is protected. Listen now and share with anyone working to create safer, more inclusive spaces for young people.
This is WISE Women with Daisy Khan, where every story matters. The journey is not about what we acquire, but who we become—and how the values forged in hardship become the gifts we offer the world.
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Dr. Nadia Ansary is professor and chair of the Department of Psychology at Rider University. She earned her PhD in developmental psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University, and researches bias-based and cyberbullying with a focus on Islamophobia in educational settings. Her work examines how religious discrimination and the racialization of religion lead to the systemic targeting of Muslim youth, and she develops evidence-based strategies to help schools build safer, more inclusive communities.
WISE Women with Daisy Khan
Where Muslim voices rise, bridges are built, and history's unsung heroines reclaim their light.
WISE Women with Daisy Khan gives voice to Muslims sharing their experiences with anti-Muslim bias, educates non-Muslims to become upstanders against discrimination, and spotlights extraordinary women throughout history whose contributions have been erased. We reclaim faith as a force for good while building bridges between East and West—transforming fear into understanding, one conversation at a time.
In a world where misinformation silences too many voices, we break through the noise by creating space for authentic dialogue. Muslims share their experiences, grievances, and hope for a better future, turning pain into a powerful conversation that demands to be heard.
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At its heart, WISE Women confronts the distortion and weaponization of religion for political gain, reclaiming faith as a force for justice, equality, and empowerment.
This isn't just another podcast—it's a bridge between communities taught to fear each other, between the world as it is and the world as it could be. We're opening hearts and minds, building the understanding our divided world desperately needs.
Welcome to WISE Women. Where wisdom meets courage, and voices become bridges.
News [Source: CBS Evening News]
A man sent a hateful message to a Muslim candidate. He responded with a call for help, article by Steve Hartman
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/a-man-sent-a-hateful-message-to-a-muslim-candidate-he-responded-with-a-call-to-help/
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