UNITED STATES, September 8, 2015 (Hindu American Foundation by Murali Balaji): When I was nine, my teacher asked me if the monkey-brain eating scene from an Indiana Jones movie was a common Hindu practice. Unfortunately, that was the least of my problems in class. Now, as the Director of Education at the Hindu American Foundation, I’m making it my personal mission to make sure today’s Hindu American youth don’t re-experience what I — and many like me — did.
This is why I’m appealing to you as parents to make sure your children take HAF’s nationwide survey on bullying, the first ever conducted to track anti-Hindu bullying and bias in schools. It’s being done to help the White House Initiative on Asian American Pacific Islanders better combat bullying and bias.
This survey is intended to get nationwide data on Hindu American students’ experiences with anti-Hindu bias and bullying in schools. The results of the data will be published by HAF in a report subsequently used by federal agencies to help prevent and combat religion-based bias and bullying. The survey focuses on students in grades 6-12. To participate in this survey, students are asked to click “source” above and follow the instructions. Responses will be kept anonymous. The deadline to participate in the survey is September 30.