Using “Where Are You Really From?” Back to School

August 28, 2024 (New York, NY) — The Sikh Coalition continues to help teachers, parents and students prepare to go back to school with free educational resources, including guidance from our latest landmark product: Where Are You Really From?: A Sikh School Climate Report (WAYRF).

By way of reminder, the Sikh Coalition launched Where Are You Really From? in April 2024, with findings based on the results of a survey completed by more than 2,000 U.S.-based Sikh students ages 9 to 18. The report found eight in ten (78 percent) Sikh students reported experiencing at least one incident that qualifies as bullying at school. More troubling, almost half (46 percent) of those students said that they have “never” or “almost never” reported a bullying incident and that 63 percent said that bullying in the presence of school staff went unaddressed. 

The findings of our report can’t be clearer: It is essential that we do more to make sure our youth feel safe and seen in their schools. Accordingly, the Sikh Coalition has put together multiple webinars and resources to help us achieve that goal together: 

Webinar for Sikh Educators: Final Session Tomorrow! 

The Sikh Coalition has invited Sikh educators to explore key findings in WAYRF, share our resources, and discuss actionable steps that educators can take to create safer and more supportive learning environments for Sikh youth in classrooms across America. If you are a Sikh educator and want to join our final webinar tomorrow, RSVP here.

Webinar About Local Advocacy for Parents and Sangat

All sangat members are invited to join a webinar to discuss how parents and families of children in public K-12 schools can advocate for your children or children in your local sangat by attending your local school board meetings to share insights and recommendations from the WAYRF report. The webinar will take place on September 14 at 4 PM ET / 1 PM PT. RSVP here.

Step-by-Step Guide to Addressing Bullying

If you are concerned that your child is being bullied, know that there are many options between doing nothing and filing a serious lawsuit. Our step-by-step guide to navigating a bullying situation, published alongside WAYRF, helps identify what parents can do on their own and how the Sikh Coalition can help along the way.

Updated Sikh Awareness Presentation

Sikh Awareness Presentations are a critical way to share essential information about Sikhs and Sikhi with not just classrooms, but also private employers, interfaith groups, government agencies, and more. The Sikh Coalition has recently updated and expanded our Sikh Awareness Presentation deck, with new designs and additional scripting. View the deck here.

Additional Back to School Resources

Our updated Back to School Toolkit includes the above mentioned Sikh awareness presentation for parents, as well as anti-bullying brochures, lesson plans, Know Your Rights materials, accommodation letters for articles of faith, and more resources that will help increase knowledge among students, teachers, and administrators, as well as protect Sikh children if problems arise at school. 

As always, the Sikh Coalition urges you to practice your faith fearlessly.