Violence In Ishmar's Behavior

Third-grade student Ishmar cries continually during class. He says that other kids pick on him because of his being a Muslim from Iraq, but they are now American citizens. They currently live in Mexico City where his father is working for an American company. Ishmar's behavior has changed from being cooperative and fairly quiet, to sulking and then screaming at his fellow classmates. Lately Ishmar's school work has gone from excellent to beyond poor. The teacher has not seen any of the incidents but they have been graphically described by Ishmar and strongly denied by the other students. Ishmar has said that the kids have stolen or ruined his lunches, torn up pages from his school books, stole or destroyed his homework, and placed obscene drawings in Ishmar's desk or books.
Ishmar cries when he tells the teacher that his older brother died on 9/11 while working as a fire fighter. He says the American kids, backed by the other students tell him that he is just a big liar , and call him names like “killer”, terrorist, and rag head. Ishmar's parents have filed complaints at the school and demand that the teacher do something to help their son and stop the other’s from picking on him.. The president of the PTA, whose son is in the same class, claims that her son says Ishmar is the liar and just wants attention. She also reports that someone has been destroying other children’s books and homework during school, thinks that it is Ishmar who is doing it. A few other parents agree and have stated the same