Washington: With the increasing diversity in the US, the White House has launched its annual anti-bullying campaign in three South Asian languages; Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi. Latest figures show that one in five students report being bullied during the school year and bullying occurs once every seven minutes. According to White House, half of Asian-American students in New York City public schools reported bias-based harassment. It announced to launch its anti-bullying campaign in the Asian languages, along with Korean, Vietnamese and Chinese in the National Bullying Prevention Month.
The White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, in partnership with the Sikh Coalition and the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment, recently launched the 'Act To Change' public awareness to address bullying, including in the Asian American and Pacific Islander community. The campaign aims to empower AAPI youth, educators and communities with information and tools to address and prevent bullying. In addition to promoting 'Act To Change', the Hindu American Foundation will publish survey data on anti-Hindu bullying and bias in schools.
Arjun Singh, the Sikh Coalition's Law and Policy director said, “The bullying of Sikh children is an epidemic. Misinformation and misunderstanding regarding the Sikh faith, coupled with a dramatic increase in bigoted dialogue towards religious minorities, has resulted in intolerance and bullying in our schools.” The Sikh Coalition's New York City Community Development Manager, Harjot Kaur said, “Students understand bullying better than anyone because they see it and experience it every single day. The launch of this new initiative gives them a single, reliable platform of resources to combat bullying. A few years ago, this crisis was something nobody was talking about. This campaign adds significant momentum to the national movement to stop this problem.”
