Youth program targets religious prejudice; Shrewsbury-based STOP effort takes ecumenical approach.

Byline: Paula J. Owen

SHREWSBURY -- On Thursday, 38 Jewish, Muslim, Catholic, Protestant and Hindu middle school students wrapped up a six-week program aimed at bridging the "interfaith divide'' and building connections to combat stereotyping and prejudice.

The last session of the "Students Together Opposing Prejudice'' program known as STOP, was held at the India Society of Worcester on Main Street in Shrewsbury. As with all the sessions, it began with a faith talk to educate the children about the religion of their host group. Thursday night, they were given a presentation on Hinduism by 15-year-old Nishta Krishnan, a junior at the Advanced Math and Science Academy and an alum of ISW cultural school.

Over the course of the free program, the children visited the Temple Emanuel Sinai and Alhuda Academy in Worcester, St. Mary Parish, Trinity Episcopal and Wellspring United Methodist churches in Shrewsbury, and Congregation B'nai Shalom and the Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Westboro. "Graduates'' of STOP are encouraged to return while attending high school as facilitators.

STOP was established by a group of interfaith educators in 1991 in Sudbury to bring together middle school youth from various religious backgrounds to learn how to tackle prejudice and stereotyping, after an anti-Semitic incident occurred in the local schools, said founder Farida Alam-Huda of the Shrewsbury chapter, that is only the second chapter in the state.

Ms. Alam-Huda and her son, Imaad A. Huda, now 17, started the Shrewsbury area chapter five years ago after Imaad heard discriminatory, stereotypical remarks from peers about Muslims, Ms. Alam-Huda said. Her son was offended, she said, but wanted to be able to handle things in the "right way.''

"He also knew others in and outside of school who experienced put-downs and needed a way to confront and stand up for themselves,'' Ms. Alam-Huda said. "He visited the STOP program in Sudbury and thought about how great it would be to have a local chapter.''

The Shrewsbury area group has been offering the program since 2010. During each of the six two- hour sessions, students are hosted at a different religious congregation so young people can appreciate and respect religious diversity, said Joyce Mandell, a volunteer adult adviser with the program from the Temple Emanuel Sinai in Worcester.

Ms. Mandell said the program is teaching children what she teaches her students as an adjunct professor in the urban studies...