#23 We live in a broken world

This week, it's been announced that there will be a national minute's silence for the victims of the dreadful terrorist attacks in Tunisia.

At midday on Friday, people will pay their respects and reflect on how fragile and unstable our world has become.

When I was at primary school in the late 1980s, I can remember isolated news stories, such as the Lockerbie bombing, the Piper Alpha disaster and Hillsborough. At the time, these were huge tragedies that devastated communities. I remember discussions about these on the playground, but can't ever remember discussing them in class.

At secondary school, I was even less aware of the major news items of the day. My only memory is overhearing a conversation of two older boys in the cloakroom about the death of the former Labour leader, John Smith.

Back then, the world was a very different place. Of course, it changed forever on  September 11th 2001. Now, not a day goes by without another news stories about western values being threatened by extremist ideologies.

In my Year 6 class, we talk about these issues. Often, the children will catch up with the day's events by watching Newsround, and we discuss the stories together. These help the children to understand religious and cultural differences, as well as enabling them to form opinions on the world around them. We talk about them, because it affects them. Many of them will be taking foreign holidays this year. It pains me to say it, but what happened in Tunisia could easily happen again. Yet we also talk about them to remind them that Islam is a peaceful religion, and that they have nothing to fear from their Muslim neighbours.

Needless to say, children are confused by this - that's the 10 and 11 year-olds in my class. I'm not sure what our school is doing to mark the silence, but I know that my class will treat it with great respect. As for those in other year groups...

I think of my own daughter in Year 1. Would I want her to take part in a minute's silence about a man with a gun murdering lots of people on their holidays? No.
We turn the radio off when she is in earshot of troubling news stories. Perhaps we are sheltering her. But at six years old, I don't think she's ready to know just how broken our world is.

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#15 RE is a vital part of a child's education

My Year 6's and I get into some pretty deep discussions.

As a class, they fall into one of three categories. The first group is a handful of vocal and opinionated girls. The second group is half a dozen thoughtful and reflective boys. The third group don't really care but listen politely

Yesterday, my RE lesson on the five pillars of Islam was hijacked by a heated debate on arranged marriage in the Muslim culture. 

The majority of the class, particularly my opinionated girls, thought it was wrong and were stinging in their condemnation of it. The debate moved swiftly onto honour killings, and the children impressed me with their knowledge of current affairs, spouting out stories from the papers.

That said, I decided to step in at that point to say that honour killings are very rare in the wider scheme of things, and actually arranged marriages in the vast majority of cases are much more successful than marriages in western culture (if divorce rates are anything to go by).

We eventually came to an agreed viewpoint that it may not be for us personally, but we have no right to criticise it in our culture.

Our understanding of world cultures and religions is instrumental in our ability to live in harmony with our neighbours. The teaching of RE is vital for children to develop a tolerance and respect of those they share the planet with. Sadly, there are evil forces at work that want to put an end to that.

Here is an extract from the 'Just Say No' campaign by the British National Party:

Don´t let this happen to your child! These unfortunate British children were forced by their school to visit a mosque and dress up as Muslims under the guise of ´religious education´. No-one has to stand for this wicked indoctrination.

The BNP are urging parents to write to their schools asking for their children to be removed from RE lessons. They have provided a letter template and a well-organised awareness campaign is underway.

I have taken children to mosques and have always enjoyed the experience. I have felt welcomed by Muslims who have shared their faith in a sensitive and informative way. The very thought that an Imam would use a school visit for 'indoctrination' amuses me!

But maybe there is something more going on here. Ever since 9/11, Muslims the world over have been unfairly viewed with suspicion and discrimination. In recent months, a murderous organisation using the banner of 'Islamic State' has shocked the world with its treatment of minority groups and brutal killings of westerners. Does this mean that Islam should be seen as an enemy? Of course not! The very thought is preposterous. Indeed, Imams from across the world have been universal in condemning the actions of the Islamic State. They say that the Qu'ran has been taken way out of context, and many have gone as far as saying that IS are heretics. IS are a tiny, yet powerful and significant organisation of terror. They're not representative of modern day Islam...far from it.

The area I work in as not multi-cultural, nor is it racist. On occasion, I hear bigoted comments from parents and children, but this is ignorance rather than anything more malicious, and is quickly corrected. I fear, however, that these parents will be the target of the BNP's campaign of poison. It would fill me with sadness if the parent of a child in my class sent that letter.

My message to any parent wishing to remove their child from RE is this: If you want your child to live in a world of fear, intolerance, prejudice and hatred, then go ahead.  If you believe it's better to hope, not hate, then don't write the letter. Your child will thank you for it one day.

And one more thing...if a parent still wants to send the letter, then it's their statutory responsibility to provide RE lessons to their child at school. That may put them off the idea.

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