UNITED SIKHS Strongly Supports SB 231- A Bill to Address School Bullying.
Sacramento, CA - Under SB 231, a Bullying Prevention Center will be staffed by trained professionals who will provide assistance to students and parents with conflict resolution, crisis intervention, suicide prevention, and bullying prevention resources.
UNITED SIKHS strongly supports SB 231 and we need your help to ADDRESS PRESSING ISSUES RELATED TO BULLYING AND PEER ABUSE !!

TAKE ACTION NOW:
1. Click here to sign the petition- For California Residents Only
2. Print the letter and mail to Senator Lou Correa
3. Call Senator Correa’s Office at (714) 558-4400 and leave message in support
4. Spread the word, we need to show our strength in numbers. Invite your family and friends from California to show their support.
May 1st, 2013 marks a momentous occasion wherein California Legislature is holding a hearing on a legislation that addresses serious issues relating to bullying and peer abuse, with particular focus on issues that impact students in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12 , their families, peers and communities.
Dr. Seema Kaur, UNITED SIKHS National Director, will be speaking in support of SB 231 at this hearing in the California State Senate, alongside Ms. Lisa Ford Berry, founder of B.R.A.V.E. (Bullies Really Are Violating Everyone) Society and co-sponsor of this bill, aimed at establishing the California Technical Bullying Prevention Center - a hotline for California students being bullied.
State Senator Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana) introduced Senate Bill (SB) 231, to address issues related to youth bullying and peer abuse. Co-sponsors of the bill include California Senate pro Tem Darrell Steinberg and Senator Marty Block (D-San Diego), Assemblymember Tom Ammiano (D- San Francisco), Bonnie Lowenthal (D-Long Beach), and Philip Y. Ting (D-San Francisco).
Dr. Seema Kaur, speaking both as a community leader and a mother of three says, “The series of events that led to the loss of a beautiful soul - Michael Joseph Berry - to “bullycide” is not an isolated case. Many of our children are facing similar circumstances all over the country. All children that are either suffering or have been lost belong to all of us. Why should we expect a child to offer an explanation as to who they are in order to be accepted in their peer groups? ”
In the Sikh community, children continue to face harassment and bullying in schools because of their Sikh identity. This reflects a growing trend, as demonstrated by incidents of school bullying outlined in our 2011-2012 Global Sikh Civil and Human Rights Report , where one student’s hair was set on fire and another’s was forcibly cut. Sikh boys have regularly been subjected to harassment and school bullying at the elementary school level and beyond. This hotline will be an outlet for them and their families to know that there is help, along with a voice that will listen and do something about the abuse they are facing. Under SB 231, the Bullying Prevention Center will be staffed by trained professionals who will provide assistance to students and parents with conflict resolution, crisis intervention, suicide prevention and bullying prevention resources.
“The choice not to practice, or practice a particular religion is a fundamental right of every American citizen, and nothing should get in the way of this basic right. We all have an obligation to speak up so that our children can walk down the hallways with the same sense of safety as every other child. Our legislators need to take action now to put a system in place to stop harmful assumptions and judgements being made based on physical appearance, race, religion, etc. Together, lets empower ourselves and our children to “say something - do something” about peer abuse.” said Dr. Sidhu.
The Sacramento non-profit B.R.A.V.E. founder, Lisa Ford Berry said that, “This bill will put the power to report and or get help directly into the hands of the children who need it the most. It is also a means for parents to get help on behalf of their kids, as well as a way for concerned educators and friends of a victim to report what they see. A hotline that uses the uses the technology our kids embrace is another way to say something and do something. This bill puts the power to report and or get help directly into the hands of the children who need it the most. It is also a means for parents to get help on behalf of their kids, as well as a way for concerned educators to report what they see."
UNITED SIKHS believes in empowering individuals and groups to help them attain their full potential and become active participants in society. Empowerment occurs largely through education, training and community development projects. UNITED SIKHS aims to encourage people to participate in the decision-making processes in their local community.
You may read a previous report on UNITED SIKHS' advocacy for the Sikh community here.
Issued By:
Manmeet Singh
Staff Attorney, International Civil and Human Rights Advocacy (ICHRA)
UNITED SIKHS
law-usa@unitedsikhs.org
www.unitedsikhs.org
Tel: 1-646-688-3525