Moorestown resident and Friends School senior Adam Mohsen-Breen decided to do something about a problem he saw. He believes the Muslim community has been getting a lot of negative press as of late. Unfortunately, because of this, bullying in the Muslim community isn’t unheard of.
So Mohsen-Breen wrote children’s books to educate the youth about the Muslim community and how bullying because of their religion affects them negatively.
Because of these books, Mohsen-Breen was awarded a certificate of accomplishment for the Princeton Prize in Race Relations, a national awards program that recognizes students whose efforts have had a significant positive impact on race relations in their communities.
Mohsen-Breen’s entry to the program highlighted three children’s books he authored about Islam to challenge Muslim stereotypes and discourage bullying: “Grandfather’s Promise,” “Laila and Gabe” and “Tarek’s Lesson.” Each book addresses a different type of bullying against Muslims and stresses community responsibility.
As a Muslim, and the son of a Cuban father and an Egyptian mother, Mohsen-Breen saw a need for picture books that would make children think critically about religion and race.
“It was important to me to raise awareness for this issue, especially with our media coverage almost always associating Islam exclusively with violent fanatics, ignoring the basic nonviolent tenets of the religion,” Mohsen-Breen said.
Mohsen-Breen grew up loving to write and used it to express himself. Along with his own experiences of racism, as well as his family’s and children in focus groups who also experienced bullying, he decided to put all of those stories into books about the Muslim community.
“I think what inspired me to write the books was seeing how members of my family and community have been targets of bullying, solely because they were Muslim,” Mohsen-Breen said. “Another thing that motivated me to write them was the almost exclusively negative portrayal of Muslims in the news. I wanted to use my books as a way to raise awareness for problems facing the Muslim community, and to get kids to connect with Muslims on a personal level.”
Each book focuses on a different theme and type of bullying. “Grandfather’s Promise” is about a Muslim basketball player who moves to a new school and experiences physical bullying. “Laila and Gabe” is about two siblings — Laila, who wears a headscarf because of her religion and experiences bullying, and Gabe, who doesn’t have an obvious sign of his religion and doesn’t get bullied, and how they are treated differently. “Tarek’s Lesson” is about how ineffective or incorrect teaching of Islam can be very dangerous and perpetuate bullying.
“I think the most important thing I want to get across with these books is that teachers, families and communities can make a big difference in these types of situations. Students with a strong community affiliation softens the effects of bullying and makes them more able to cope with that kind of drama,” Mohsen-Breen said.
Mohsen-Breen’s guidance councilor Meredith Hanamirian was the one who suggested he apply for the Princeton Prize. After doing some research, they both felt his project would be a good match for the award. It was the first time a MFS student applied for the Princeton Prize.
When Mohsen-Breen found out he was receiving the award, he was ecstatic. He didn’t think he would get any recognition for his books and wasn’t going to continue with publishing books. However, winning the prize inspired him and gave him more motivation to continue.
“I was incredibly honored to receive the Princeton Prize. That really gave me a lot of motivation to continue doing this work and make my books available to a larger community. It gave me a lot of motivation and inspiration,” Mohsen-Breen said.
Mohsen-Breen and his family were invited to a reception in honor of the award winners on Wednesday, April 15 on Princeton University’s campus, which coincidentally was also Mohsen-Breen’s birthday.
“It was great! It was a nice way to celebrate my birthday with my family, and my grandparents were able to come, too,” Mohsen-Breen said.
There were other prizewinners who attended the reception along with Mohsen-Breen, and each received an award and shared a bit about their projects. Mohsen-Breen felt a little nervous because of all the incredible people who were there. However, he ultimately was happy to share more about his books and make more people aware of the issues that Muslims can often face.
Mohsen-Breen will be attending Harvard University this fall. Although he is unsure of what he wants to do, he is thinking of concentrating in Middle Eastern studies, though definitely wanting to continue writing.
For now, Mohsen-Breen’s book “Grandfather’s Promise” is available on Amazon.com. He also is looking to get it available at the iBooks store. He will have print copies later in the month and in the middle of May.
