AB 715 (“A Fine Line,” Sept. 3) is a well-intended proposal to protect Jewish schoolchildren in the state. But Jewish students aren’t alone in needing protection. The 25th anniversary of Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center was a timely reminder that, after the attack, Arabs and Muslims were stereotyped as terrorists and suffered widespread mistreatment. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan reinforced the notion that Muslims and Arabs were the enemy. Prejudice persists: Arab and Muslim students have experienced the distress we see in Jewish students since long before the Oct. 7, 2023, attack in Israel.
A 2019 report by the American School Counselor Association describes a survey of 1,041 Muslim students ages 11 to 18. It found that significant numbers of students were made fun of, verbally insulted, or abused for being Muslim; became targets of having their hijab pulled off; were physically harassed; felt unsafe, unwelcomed and disrespected in school; became victims of cyberbullying; and were even bullied or discriminated against by administrators, teachers, or other officials at school.
Blaming all Muslims for Oct. 7, plus high rates of Muslim immigration to Europe and the USA, are exacerbating negative views. Abuse of Muslims is rampant on social media: fears of Sharia takeover and condemnation of everything from halal meat to wearing the hijab have become online staples. Given youths’ umbilical attachment to all things digital, that content will inevitably redouble the effect on their lived experiences. Every student facing mistreatment at school deserves protection; the school environment should not favor one kind of student over another. Jewish students and Muslim students are suffering in school. Is there any question as to what should be done?
Johanna Rubba
Grover Beach
This article appears in Oct 1-8, 2026.
