Muslim parents, students in Colorado school district raise concerns of bullying

A group of Muslim parents and students in Cherry Creek Schools are sharing their personal stories of what they consider biased-motivated bullying.

"The worst was 'terrorist'," said parent Reema Wahdan. "Second 'Twin Towers,' Arab this Arab that. 'Go blow yourself up.'"

"It does kind of make them a little bit hesitant when they're heading to school because they're wondering, 'am I next?'," said parent Shadhaa Ramadan.

They say the district has failed to help them.

"I had an incident where I was being called slurs by kids at the local middle school, and when I reported it, after a week I followed up, it was like it never even happened," said 2024 Overland High School graduate Nour Idris.

"We are speaking up against that type of quiet, complicity to be saying that we are not allowing this to go any further," said Wahdan.

Everything came to a head this year when a teacher at Campus Middle School showed what the district calls "an inappropriate and unapproved" video about the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11th, 2001, in a class. The video contained what some view as outdated and offensive ideas about Islam.

The district put that teacher on leave, but it was too late for one of the students, who says she'd been the victim of Islamophobia bullying at least twice before. 

In a statement, her mother told CBS News Colorado: Over the past three years, my daughter has been subjected to consistent harassment in middle school, rooted in cultural and religious differences. These incidents have been made equally by peers and trusted adults in the same building, they had a profound and lasting impact on her well-being. Despite reporting the issues multiple times, the responses from the system have been inadequate, leaving the problems to persist. The inaction has made her feel as though her identity is unwelcome, and her rights do not matter in this space.

The harassment has ranged from stereotyping and cultural insensitivity to direct bullying both by peers and adults. The emotional toll this has taken on her cannot be overstated. She has had to strip away parts of herself each day before entering school to avoid further victimization. Tragically, this has reached a point where she felt that our lives would be better without her, highlighting the severe impact this has had on her mental health.

Our family has gone through an incredibly difficult experience with repeated harassment The incidents across multiple years seem to show a pattern of both peer bullying and teacher insensitivity, all centered around her religion and cultural background. Despite multiple attempts to address the situation—through reports to the administration, emails from the parents, and even a re-entry meeting—the school has repeatedly failed to protect the student or educate the community about religious tolerance.

The escalation from microaggressions in sixth grade, to direct bullying and Islamophobic remarks in seventh grade, followed by further insensitivity in eighth grade from a teacher who showed Islamophobic material, demonstrates a systemic issue that wasn't handled properly. The impact on the student's mental health, leading to depression and suicidal thoughts, reflects the serious harm caused by these actions.

We have taken significant steps to advocate for her well-being, including involving therapists and seeking support from the school district. Unfortunately, it seems the school hasn't taken effective action to address the harassment or to implement necessary changes in the curriculum and classroom environment to prevent further harm.

The Cherry Creek School District held a meeting with some Muslim parents and students on Monday to discuss the issue. 

The school district released this statement: We do not tolerate hate-motivated behavior of any kind in our schools. Whenever we receive a report of discriminatory behavior, we thoroughly investigate the incident and take appropriate disciplinary action against the student or staff member found to be responsible."

We have had conversations with parents and student leaders at multiple schools to work collaboratively to address incidents of racism, Islamophobia, antisemitism, and homophobia that filter into our schools from our greater society. We value our parent and student partnerships in helping to keep our schools safe.

The Muslim parents and students say they want the bullying to end, and they still have faith that the district can support them and their students.

"It's a good district. It can be better. That's why we're talking about it," said Idris.