Crazy teacher ?

[enigma]

My nine year old daughter came home from school a few days ago clutching a consent form to visit the mosque in Glasgow - fine. The thing is though , she has now informed me that she will have to be covered up and have her head covered in a headscarf or she will not be permitted to enter. Any child who refuses to cover up will not be permitted to attend the trip , which I was really unhappy about. I am not a racist and absolutely defend the right for any individual to have the freedom to exercise their right to hold whichever beliefs they may have and to be allowed their relevant place of worship. I can not however understand why my daughter should be forced to adhere to religious customs which are not her own. I realise that this may be a touchy subject for some but I wonder what would happen if a muslim child was visiting a chapel and was ordered to bare their head and show their face , then bless themself and take communion , in order for them to enter. The media would have an absolute field day with a story like that. I am not catholic but have been in a chapel many a time for friends' weddings , funerals etc and would not bless myself nor take communion because I am not catholic ...................

[puzzled54]

Ref Ratters comments - It seems to be different for school trips as the children are not exactly 'choosing' to go. If the parents do not give permission, the child is made to feel odd by being left at school, like a punishment. When I objected to giving my permission to let my daughter listen to a 'talk' by a convicted criminal, I was told he would be well guarded by prison officers and it was some sort of government policy. I realise that was not the same situation as the mosque visit, but it's not something that you would choose to do yourself, and I think you should let the school know that you are not happy with the situation. Incidently, is there only a mosque visit planned, or are other religions being covered?

[noxlumos]

No-one is FORCING this child to do anything. If she wishes to visit a Mosque then she should observe their customs, and I feel should be encouraged by her parents to do so.If her parents are not happy about her learning about other faiths by directly visiting then they should explain this to her.
I'm Catholic and my wife is Jewish and we home educate. As part of the RE work we set for her our daughter has visited Catholic churches, Synagogues, Sikh Temples and Mosques as well as other fringe religions. She has dressed accordingly for each visit she made including covering up for her Mosque visit and has always benefitted from the visits she made and has been treated with respect and made to feel welcome.
If you want to make a big furore over something that's essentially not a problem, then go right ahead, but it's only your child that will suffer, in my humble opinion.

[bednobs]

i swear i read almost exactly this same question a few weeks ago!

[Pippa68]

As I have metioned time & time again, I have never met a Muslim who was offended by Christmas..lights or otherwise.

It is usually the local councils who THINK this is going to be the case..

[Pippa68]

And as andy has quite rightly suggested, the full covering of the face is a personal choice and sometimes a cultural thing, rather than part of the Islamic faith.

I do wonder if the school has actually found out the real facts first?

[enigma]

To all those who posted " The child is not being forced to do anything" , I wonder , did you actually read my question ? My daughter IS being forced in a sense. Thank you puzzled54 for understanding the thrust of my post. My daughter has effectively been given an ultimatum - comply by wearing FULL head gear or you won't be going. Yes , FULL head gear - face and head MUST be covered. This is alien to my daughter and she doesn't want to wear it.

Andy hughes - I appreciate what you are saying "When in Rome ........" , however , I feel that the crucial point to remember here is that you were on holiday and made an informed choice - a luxury which my daughter is not being afforded. Her choice has been taken from her as she is being ordered to either fully cover up or not enter and also forfeit her trip.

Now if you want to interpret that as a rant Gef then so be it. If I want to 'rant' on my own question , then I will. It's just such a pity that I can't voice a concern without being depicted as an ignorant racist who does not wish for her daughter learning about other faiths , when one of my closest friends is an Indian girl - as I mentioned in another answer. Thanks for the input though Gef , it was really inspiring.

Puzzled54 - No there are no other plans to any other place or worship nor has there ever been -only the mosque - despite other faiths being learned about. Incidentally , Christianity has never been a subject for discussion. I am more than happy for my daughter to learn about other faiths but not to the detriment of learning about her own faith too. Why can't she celebrate Christmas in school ? Surley if we are to learn about ALL faiths then Christmas should not be deemed to be offfensive ? I note that no-one who spoke in defence of my daughter being fully covering up has commented on this. I welcome your comments.

[bednobs]

i knew id seen it somewhere before .... enigma, read this thread http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Body-and-Soul/Q uestion315214.html

[bednobs]

you and blyss should get together as you are clarly both in glasgow. I wonder if its only glasgow mosques that ask for this, only glasgow schools going to mosques or only glasgow parents who are worried about it?

[Pippa68]

If Christmas isn't being celebrated in your school then you have every right to be horrified.

I have yet to see any evidence of this happening in my area as yet..despite quite a few locals complaining about it!

[enigma]

I haven't seen that thread before as I only came back online recently. I hadn't realised that this question has been asked before or I wouldn't have posted it. It didn't bring it up in the list of questions already asked. That point aside though , I still feel that it is a valid question given the remarks from my child's teacher. The fact that Blyss has already asked this question and is coincidentally from the same part of Scotland as me , shows then that this obviously an area of discontent amongst parents. I do not believe however that is just contained to parents in the Glasgow area or Glasgow mosque specifically and I am not quite sure what you are getting at. I am not from Glasgow actually. I live in a surrounding town but the mosque is in Glasgow. Even if I had been travellintg from Stirling , the mosque would still be in Glasgow , so it is not just Glasgow parents whose children visit the mosque.

[bednobs]

you seem to think im getting at you but im not. i thought the 50 answers that blyss got may have helped you, thats all and when i was reading it it struck me that you are both in the same place, and it madde me think, i wonder if its only the glasgow mosque that asks for face covering, or the ones round the country. i thought it might be nice for you to se that someone else was in the same position and shared the same concerns as you, seeing as the majority of people who answered both questions dont seem to. Im not "getting at " anything at all, and it would be a very unreasnable person that expected you to look at every question and answr over the last few weeks before posting

[bednobs]

i hadnt read all your second part of the question. I think the teacher was very sensible to point out that remarks against a religion can be inflammatory. People died in the aftermath of the cartoon scenario!

[enigma]

I apologise Bednobs. I misinterpreted your answer. I thought that you meant that you thought that I was Blyss because I had posted such a similar answer. The similarities are uncanny - a nine year old child from the Glasgow area being asked to cover head and face at around the same period of time. The AB can be a nasty place at times with all sorts of accusations running rife (as I have experienced in the past) and I wrongly picked up on what you had said.

"you and blyss should get together as you are clarly both in glasgow. I wonder if its only glasgow mosques that ask for this, only glasgow schools going to mosques or only glasgow parents who are worried about it? " I thought that it was accusatory. Apologies and I thank you for your input.

[dunaplimsoll]

Don't you just hate it when you look at the link and posts have been removed (Wardy's)? Quite heated that one. Ironic that someone should comment on being united and not segregated, when in fact it is the muslims' choice to be just that - segregated and not accept our way of worship i.e. nativity play at school. Oh dear, we must not offend them in our Country.

[Captain Swab]

This country is going downhill fast. Over-liberal bellends need to wake up.

[noxlumos]

Enigma, I think you are misunderstanding what I mean by being forced, your daughter is NOT being forced. She has a choice. She can either cover herself accordingly or not go. THAT is a choice.No-one is singling her out, this applies to everyone who attends that Mosque I would imagien, Muslim and guest alike.
Life is full of things we have to do that are against our culture, personal wishes etc but they usually have an element of choice attachde to them, just as the case with your daughter's visit has, so I repeat I don't believe she is being forced to do anything, it's just a non negociatable situation you've found yourselves up against. The two are not the same thing.

[noxlumos]

Please excuse the spelling in my previous post.
Imagine, attached, negociable, (my bang on the head's playing up today):)

[muffty]

What views do you peeps have on the other issue mentioned by enigma about the school nativity play that dunaplimsoll (love that name - my brother always says that!) has just brought up?

[ELVIS68]

Why anyone would want to send their kids to a mosque is beyond me, this is just another case of having that religious bullsh!t rammed down our throats again.

What happened to proper school visits to museums etc that teach kids about their own history.

[bednobs]

oh dear nox, excuse the splling in that post too .... it's negotiable i think! What a horrible burden it is to be a pedant!