Muslim teens in London, Ont. create educational package for local school board

In the days surrounding June 6, 2022, the one-year anniversary of the Afzaal family deaths, teens in London, Ont. have expressed how they don’t feel safe in their own community.

“We started the Youth Coalition Combatting Islamophobia (YCCI) for all those who are tired of feeling broken, lost and helpless,” said Miryam Al-Sabawi.

YCCI worked tirelessly over weeks and months to create a documentary and worked along with the Thames Valley District School Board (TVDSB) to create an educational package for use on June 6, 2022, and beyond.

“It is our hope that educators across Canada will use these resources to facilitate important conversations to change the narrative,” said Al-Sabawi.

The June 6 Commemoration School and Educator Resource Guide was used Monday to give educators a resource to help answer any questions from students, and to spark conversation and discussion surrounding the Afzaal family deaths.

The activities Monday included a moment of silence, a school walk, education package and video, as well as decorating the schools in purple and green to symbolize the fight against Islamophobia.Miryam Al-Sabawi of the Youth Coalition Combatting Islamophobia speaks at the march and rally at Oakridge Secondary School on June 5, 2022. (Jim Knight/CTV News London)

“What we didn’t want it commemorating the event and then seen as tokenism,” says Asad Chaudhary, the educational lead for YCCI.

“In other words, do a walk for 15 minutes and then it's behind us we forget about it. This is more of a stop Islamophobia. This is a combat against Islamophobia, or any type of hate.”

The curriculum is provided by the Ministry of Education, however there are opportunities to embed this material provided by YCCI into the learning from grades one to 12.

“Equity is a job-embedded expectation in Thames Valley,” said Purveen Skinner, equity superintendent at TVDSB.

“The resources that have been provided by YCCI provide ideas for picture books, novels, video clips, there are a lot of ideas,” she added. “We would certainly continue to offer professional development to support staff in this work and work alongside our Muslim partners as they bring the lived experiences and identities to these conversations.”

Chaudhary says he appreciates teachers and staff’s priority to provide safety and security to the students.

Asad Chaudhary is the educational lead for Youth Coalition Combatting Islamophobia (Brent Lale/CTV News London)

“When we're talking about a curriculum that's embedded with inclusion and inclusivity, that means you are automatically celebrating diversity and you're truly seeing equity in the classroom,” said Chaudhary.

He described the multi-faceted educational package which focuses on inclusivity by saying, number one is the inclusion of all different marginalized groups into the curriculum.

“Using more Muslim-authored or Muslim-based content of fiction and nonfiction books. Junior elementary ages were reading a book called ‘The proudest Blue’ about a little girl wearing a blue hijab and what it means to her, to having Muslim characters in some fiction novels,” said Chaudhary.

He says the second part is learning about stereotypes and anti-bullying.

“In anti-bullying and racism, how we as bystanders can act,” he explained. “Because in a situation of bullying, you have the bully and the one being bullied, but then you have the larger population as bystanders. How do we go from bystanders to defenders?”

YCCI members want to see their own teachers and their own peers learning and teaching these elements.

“In our story, we do not allow hate to be the lens in which we see the world. And in our story, we do not allow hate to be the lens in which the world sees us,” said Al-Sabawi.