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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Wiza I., Youth Advocate of Asian American Student Advocacy Project (ASAP) on Anti-Bullying and Harassment
9:48:06
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Wiza I., a junior at Staten Island Technical High School and youth advocate for ASAP, testifies about the challenges faced by AAPI students, including bullying, stereotyping, and the need for better representation in school curricula. She emphasizes the importance of restorative justice in creating a more inclusive school environment.
- Describes an incident at her school where East Asian girls were ranked, highlighting the lack of accountability and proper handling of racist behavior
- Advocates for city-funded AAPI curriculum to be piloted in schools, similar to existing Black and Latinx studies
- Calls for baseline funding to have a restorative justice coordinator in every school to address bullying and create a more empathetic environment
Wiza I.
9:48:06
Good evening.
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First, I'd like to thank chair Joseph and the rest of the council for allowing this conversation.
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My name is Wiza Urshad and I'm a junior at Staten Island Technical High School.
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I'm a youth advocate at the Asian American Student Advocacy Project's anti bullying and harassment campaign.
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For many AAPI students, we face unique challenges that often make us feel disconnected or overlooked.
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It's not always the blatant bullying but the small repeated moments that go unnoticed.
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The jokes about how we look, the comments about our food, or the assumptions made about our cultures.
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In my school, was an incident that made clear how racism can negatively impact students, especially when it comes to our identities.
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A group of students decided to create a list ranking East Asian girls in our grade, reducing them to nothing more than objects for comparison.
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The list was demeaning and hurtful, not just for students on the list but for our school community.
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I was very disappointed by the way the incident was handled.
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The students who were involved were not held accountable and those who caused harm were not given a real explanation of why what they did was wrong.
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It felt like the system just wanted to move on but the harm had already been done.
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This left many students feeling invisible and worthless including myself.
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We all deserve an inclusive school environment that centers on empathy and humanity and it hurts to say that that is not the case for us.
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As API youth, we're often reduced to assumptions about our culture, our intelligence or behavior.
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As a result of the model minority myth, teachers have biases believing AAPI students are academically gifted, hardworking and quiet.
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This completely ignores our individuality.
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We're constantly being asked whether we're terrorists or viruses by peers, comments that do nothing but cause more harm.
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All of these ignorances and misunderstandings come from a lack of understanding of each other.
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Chair Joseph, you mentioned earlier today that the council has funded black studies and now Latinx curriculum.
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We are so grateful for that effort.
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AAPI students also hope to see themselves in the classroom and I hope a city funded AAPI curriculum can also be piloted in a similar manner.
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The anti bullying and harassment campaign team believes the solution to addressing bullying and harassment in schools is not punishment but creating an environment of empathy that focus on healing and repairing harm.
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We believe every school should have a restorative justice coordinator to help guide students toward better conflict resolution and understanding.
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Through restorative justice, schools can be proactive, creating a space where students feel safe and included and the entire school community learns to move forward together, stronger and more connected.
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We need the city to take meaningful steps to prioritize the wellness of students.
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That is why we believe every school should have an restorative justice coordinator and the city must have a baseline funding for the program.
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We know that meaningful change takes time so the funding for such initiatives must be sustainable and protected from cuts.
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We want to create a community where all students regardless of race, ethnicity or background feel valued, safe and understood.
9:50:48
Thank you.