A nine-year-old boy sat alone in a school cafeteria in Brooklyn, watching his classmates eat. He was fasting for Ramadan. A school aide had placed him there as a punishment. According to CBS News New York, his mother said the aide “used his religion against him.” CAIR filed a civil rights complaint on the family’s behalf. The organization called it “faith-based bullying by a school employee.”
This case is not rare. Muslim students across the United States face bullying in school cafeterias and other spaces at a rate far above the national average. Furthermore, the problem is not limited to one school or one city. Indeed, the cafeteria is one of the most common places where religious bias becomes direct harm for Muslim students, especially girls.
How Widespread Is Bullying Against Muslim Students?
The numbers are serious. According to StopBullying.gov, a 2024 article by Dr. Amaarah DeCuir of the U.S. Department of Education noted that nearly half of Muslim families with school-age children reported a religious bullying incident in the previous year. Indeed, one in five families said it happened almost every school day. Moreover, 42 percent of incidents involved trusted adults in school, not just peers.
Moreover, the CAIR-MA 2025 Bullying Report surveyed 325 Muslim students in grades six through twelve across Massachusetts. It found that 48 percent of students faced bullying because of their faith in the 2023 to 2024 school year. According to CAIR-MA, this rate is more than double the national average for all public school students. Consequently, Muslim students carry a level of daily risk that most of their classmates do not face.
What Forms Does This Bullying Take?
A 2025 study by CAIR-CA and the Center for the Prevention of Hate and Bullying surveyed 1,802 students aged 11 to 18 across 48 counties in California. Consequently, the results showed three main types of bullying. Verbal abuse was the most common at 62 percent. Exclusion and bias came next at 26 percent. Threats of physical harm affected 12 percent. Furthermore, 29 percent of Muslim students reported that school staff made offensive remarks about their faith.
Furthermore, for girls who wear the hijab, the data is more specific. According to the CAIR-MA 2025 report, 35 percent of hijab-wearing female students experienced physical harassment at school. Moreover, this included having their hijabs pulled or removed by other students. Additionally, nearly a third of all students in the survey had heard of a hijab-wearing girl being physically targeted at school.
Why the Cafeteria Is a High-Risk Space
The school cafeteria is less controlled than a classroom. Adult oversight is lower. Therefore, peer pressure plays out more freely at lunch. Moreover, the cafeteria is tied to food and eating, which connects directly to Islamic practices like Ramadan fasting and halal food choices.
Consequently, Muslim girls face pressure from more than one direction during lunchtime. They may be mocked for not eating during a fast. Additionally, they may face rude comments about their food. Furthermore, the hijab becomes a visible target in the informal social setting of a lunch break. Therefore, the cafeteria brings together several risk factors that are more spread out during other parts of the school day.
What Do Real Cases Tell Us?
One of the most widely covered cafeteria cases involved Sanaa Beaufort, a 17-year-old Black Muslim student at North Penn High School in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, she said two classmates attacked her inside the school cafeteria in May 2021. Notably, the attack happened during Ramadan. Her hijab was pulled off during the fight. She and her family said the assault was driven by Islamophobic bullying that had come before the cafeteria attack. The local NAACP chapter joined protests outside the school in response.
The second case is the Brooklyn story from the start of this article. According to CBS News New York, nine-year-old Ilyas Aljahmi was fasting during Ramadan at P.S. 264. Muslim students who were fasting were meant to spend lunch in a different room. A school aide instead made him sit in the cafeteria in front of all his peers as a punishment. Consequently, his mother described it as humiliation. CAIR filed a civil rights complaint with the New York City Department of Education on the family’s behalf.
The Glenside Middle School Assault in Chicago
A third case drew national attention in early 2024. According to Morocco World News, a video went viral showing a male student at Glenside Middle School in Chicago assaulting a female student wearing a hijab. The video showed him grabbing her, putting her head in a headlock, and pushing her to the ground. Chicago Sun-Times reported that police opened a formal review. CAIR called on the school to address a wider pattern of bullying. The group also pointed out that the same attacker had carried out a prior assault on a Muslim girl student with no real school response at that time.
A Case from the UK
However, the issue exists outside the United States as well. Tell MAMA, a UK group that tracks anti-Muslim hate, reported a case involving an 11-year-old girl. She wore her hijab for the first time on a December school day. According to Tell MAMA, a classmate walked up to her, said the hijab was horrible, and tried to pull it off. The same student had made anti-Muslim comments to the girl before. Subsequently, after the incident, the girl was afraid to tell any school staff. She told her parents instead. She also said she might stop wearing the hijab. The school later required the other student to write a letter of apology.
Why Are Muslim Girls Targeted More Often?
Muslim girls who wear the hijab are visually easy to identify as Muslim. Indeed, this is different from many other students whose faith is not visible. According to the CAIR-MA 2025 report, 35 percent of hijab-wearing girls faced physical harassment at school, including having their hijab pulled off. Moreover, this kind of attack is both physical and religious at the same time. Furthermore, it often happens in public, which adds shame and humiliation to the physical harm.
According to StopBullying.gov, Muslims are often targeted specifically for faith practices such as prayer, fasting, and wearing religious clothing. Therefore, a girl who wears the hijab carries a visible sign of her religion at all times. This raises her risk in places like cafeterias and hallways where less supervision exists. Additionally, girls who fast during Ramadan and do not eat at lunch become visually different from their peers. This makes them a target in a space built around sharing a meal.
How Does the Wider Social Climate Play a Role?
Research has consistently linked spikes in school bullying to wider political events and media coverage. According to Campus Safety Magazine, which reported on the 2025 CAIR-CA study, the problem in schools is tied to “unchecked hate, bias, bigotry, and discrimination.” Furthermore, CAIR-MA noted in its 2025 report that the spike in bullying data during 2023 to 2024 was made worse by national and global political tensions.
According to Dr. Amaarah DeCuir writing on StopBullying.gov, the U.S. Department of Education’s civil rights office has seen a sharp rise in reports of bias against Muslim students. Therefore, the cafeteria is not an isolated problem. It is a reflection of a broader school climate that fails to keep Muslim students safe. Consequently, real solutions must change the whole environment, not just respond to single events.
Why Do So Many Incidents Go Unreported?
One of the most alarming findings across multiple studies is how often Muslim students stay silent after being bullied. According to CAIR-CA’s 2025 report, 67 percent of Muslim students who were bullied did not tell school staff. The top reasons were feeling ignored, fear of more harm, and not knowing the reporting process. Furthermore, CAIR’s wider research has found that many Muslim children do not feel safe going to a teacher or school leader about this issue.
Consequently, this silence has real costs. According to the same 2025 CAIR-CA report, 43 percent of Muslim students said they had missed school because of bullying. This is far above the national school absence average. Consequently, unreported bullying does not stay within a single lunchtime. It shapes school attendance, academic results, and mental health over time.
What Happens When Adults Are Part of the Problem?
Several studies show that school staff, not just peers, are a source of harm for Muslim students. According to StopBullying.gov, 42 percent of Muslim bullying incidents reported by families involved trusted adults in school. According to Campus Safety Magazine, the 2025 CAIR-CA report found that 29 percent of Muslim students said school staff made offensive remarks or showed biased behavior. Moreover, the most common forms were verbal abuse and rude comments at 60 percent, followed by biased teaching at 18 percent.
Therefore, this changes who a student can turn to for help. If a Muslim girl in the cafeteria faces bullying and the adult on duty is part of the problem, she has no safe place to go. Therefore, training for all school staff, including cafeteria workers and lunch aides, is vital. Additionally, schools need clear reporting channels that students trust enough to use without fear.
What Should Schools Do to Protect Muslim Students?
The U.S. Department of Education has called on schools to provide better education on anti-Muslim bullying for both students and staff. According to StopBullying.gov, this is needed to build safe and welcoming spaces for all learners. Furthermore, CAIR has built a school program that targets three areas: peer bullying, staff training on diversity, and improving how schools teach about Islam and Muslims.
Moreover, schools can also make simple changes that lower risk in the cafeteria. These include better adult oversight at lunch, training for cafeteria aides on religious rights, and setting up a quiet space for students who are fasting during Ramadan. The P.S. 264 case shows that the idea of a separate lunch space for fasting students can work. The problem there was not the policy but the lack of staff training and accountability. Therefore, good policies must be matched with proper training and follow-through.
How Can Families Respond to Cafeteria Bullying?
Families who think their child is being bullied in the cafeteria have real options. CAIR provides a free guide for Muslim students and families on how to spot bullying and push back within the school system. Families can file civil rights complaints with local education bodies, as both the Brooklyn and Chicago families did. According to CAIR-MA, schools have a legal duty to keep all students safe regardless of their faith.
Furthermore, parents can ask for a formal meeting with school staff to ask about lunch supervision. They should write down each incident as it happens and keep records of all contact with the school. They can also ask the school to put a safety plan in place for their child. Additionally, groups like CAIR and Tell MAMA in the UK can step in and apply pressure when schools do not act on their own.
What Long-Term Support Do Bullied Muslim Students Need?
Bullying has lasting effects. A student who is mocked, shoved, or has her hijab pulled in the cafeteria does not simply forget the event when the school day ends. According to CAIR-CA’s 2025 research, the impact of bullying on Muslim students reaches beyond stress. It affects how well they do in school, their sense of safety, and how much they feel they belong. Moreover, missing school to avoid bullies leads to gaps in learning that are hard to close.
Mental health support within schools matters. However, many Muslim students may not feel comfortable using general counseling services if those services do not understand their faith or their experience of Islamophobia. Therefore, schools that want to support Muslim students well should consider building in faith-sensitive mental health resources. Additionally, peer support programs that bring Muslim students together with allies can help reduce the isolation that often comes after a bullying event.
What Does Ramadan Have to Do with Cafeteria Bullying?
Ramadan is the Islamic holy month of fasting. During this time, many Muslim students do not eat or drink from sunrise to sunset. Consequently, the cafeteria becomes a more difficult space for them during this period. Furthermore, it becomes a place where their faith is the most visible to peers who may not understand or respect it.
The link between Ramadan and cafeteria bullying is well documented. According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, the cafeteria attack on Sanaa Beaufort at North Penn High School took place during Ramadan. The Brooklyn case reported by CBS News New York also happened during Ramadan. Indeed, the fasting month is a time when Muslim students are at heightened risk. Consequently, schools that do not prepare in advance for Ramadan are leaving their Muslim students exposed.
How Should Schools Handle Ramadan in the Cafeteria?
Some schools have created quiet spaces for fasting students to go during lunchtime. Indeed, this is a simple and effective step. P.S. 264 in Brooklyn had such a system in place. The problem was that one staff member misused it as a form of punishment. Therefore, having the right policy is not enough on its own. Furthermore, schools also need to train staff on what the policy is, why it exists, and how to apply it fairly.
Moreover, peers of Muslim students can benefit from age-appropriate information about Ramadan. When students understand why a classmate is not eating, they are less likely to make it into a source of mockery. Furthermore, teachers who explain Ramadan in a positive and factual way help build a culture of respect that reduces the chance of bullying happening in the first place. Additionally, this kind of education supports the broader goal of creating a school where students of all faiths feel welcome and safe.
What Can Muslim Students Do to Protect Themselves?
However, Muslim students who face bullying in the cafeteria are not without options. CAIR offers a free guide for Muslim students and families that explains how to identify bullying and what steps to take. The guide covers how to speak to a teacher or school leader, how to document what happened, and when to involve a civil rights organization. Furthermore, students who feel unsafe should not stay silent, even if they fear the response will be poor.
However, the burden should not fall on students alone. Consequently, the wider school community, including teachers, parents, and school leaders, all have a role in making the cafeteria safe. Indeed, the data shows that bullying of Muslim girls in cafeterias is a pattern, not a series of separate events. Therefore, the response must also be a pattern of consistent action, not a one-time reaction to a single viral video or complaint.
The bottom line is clear. Muslim girls are being bullied in school cafeterias at rates that far exceed what most parents and school leaders realize. According to multiple named studies and named news reports, this is happening across the United States and in other countries. Moreover, it is happening in full view of schools that often fail to act fast enough or firmly enough. Consequently, every school that serves Muslim students has a duty to look honestly at its cafeteria environment and ask whether it is truly safe. Therefore, awareness is only the first step. Sustained, consistent action is what truly protects students every single day.
Frequently Asked Questions
How common is bullying of Muslim girls in school cafeterias?
According to the CAIR-MA 2025 Bullying Report, 48 percent of Muslim students faced bullying due to their faith in the 2023 to 2024 school year. The cafeteria is one of the most common settings because adult oversight is lower and peer behavior is less controlled than in a classroom.
Why are hijab-wearing Muslim girls targeted more often?
The hijab is a visible sign of faith that peers can see at all times. According to the CAIR-MA 2025 report, 35 percent of hijab-wearing girls experienced physical harassment at school, including having their hijab pulled or removed. This kind of attack is both physical and an act of religious harm at the same time.
What should a Muslim girl do if she is bullied in the school cafeteria?
She should tell a trusted adult and ask for the incident to be written down. Families can also contact CAIR, which offers a free guide for Muslim students facing bullying and can file civil rights complaints if the school does not act.
Can a school be held legally responsible for bullying of a Muslim student?
Yes. Schools have a legal duty to keep all students safe regardless of their faith. According to CAIR-MA, civil rights complaints can be filed with local education offices when schools fail to act. CAIR filed such a complaint against the New York City Department of Education on behalf of the Aljahmi family, as reported by CBS News New York.
What happened in the Glenside Middle School cafeteria bullying case?
According to Morocco World News, a video went viral in early 2024 showing a male student at Glenside Middle School in Chicago assaulting a hijab-wearing female student. Police opened a review. CAIR called on the school to address a wider pattern of bullying, noting that it was the attacker’s second assault on a Muslim girl with no real school response the first time.
Why do so many Muslim students not report bullying to school staff?
According to CAIR-CA’s 2025 report, 67 percent of bullied Muslim students did not tell school staff. The top reasons were feeling ignored, fear of more harm, and not knowing how to report. Additionally, many felt that adults would not take their concerns seriously.
What is faith-based bullying by a school employee?
This refers to bullying carried out by school staff who use a student’s religion as a tool of punishment or humiliation. The term was used by CAIR in the Brooklyn case reported by CBS News New York, where a lunch aide forced a fasting Muslim boy to sit in the cafeteria as a form of discipline.
Does Ramadan increase the risk of cafeteria bullying for Muslim students?
Yes. Muslim students who fast during Ramadan are visibly different at lunch because they are not eating. This can attract rude comments and unwanted attention. The North Penn High School cafeteria case reported by The Philadelphia Inquirer took place during Ramadan.
What can parents do to protect their child in school during Ramadan?
Parents can contact the school before Ramadan begins to confirm what support is in place for fasting students. They can ask for their child to spend lunch in a quiet space away from the cafeteria, as many schools offer. Furthermore, they should write down any incidents and reach out to CAIR or another civil rights group if the school does not respond.
How can schools better protect Muslim students in cafeterias?
According to StopBullying.gov, schools need better education on anti-Muslim bullying for both students and staff. Practical steps include training cafeteria aides on religious rights, ensuring proper oversight at lunch, creating safe spaces for fasting students during Ramadan, and setting up clear and trusted ways for students to report problems.
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