United Nations 61st Commission on Human Rights, Geneva, Switzerland
Item 13: Rights of the Child
Speaker: Emilie Kao of The Becket Fund
Mr. Chairman,
Governments around the world, especially in Europe, are struggling with how to respect the right of the child to express religious belief in the classroom. Last month, England's Court of Appeal held that a high-school student, Shabina Begum, may express her religious belief by wearing a jilbab, a full-length Muslim gown to class. By contrast, in the fall of 2004, France implemented a prohibition on religious clothing that forbids children from symbols such as the turban, the yarmulke, the cross, and the headscarf to school. As governments contemplate what policies to adopt on religious dress, The Becket Fund urges them to consider three questions:
1. How will prohibiting religious clothing affect discussions of religious belief in the classroom?
The banning of religious clothing in the classroom suppresses discussion of religious diversity. Children in Shabina Begum's classroom in England will see a girl who is dressed differently than they are. Undoubtedly, they will be curious as to why she wears the jilbab. They will ask her why she wears it and why she is a Muslim. They will gain greater familiarity with, if not understanding of, Shabina's faith by seeing her wear the jilbab and by talking with her about it.
In Strasbourg, France, a Muslim girl of about the same age, Cennet Dogannay, cannot wear a hijab (a headscarf which covers her hair) to school. In order to continue her education and honor her religious beliefs, Cennet shaved her head and now attends classes either bald or wearing a hat. Cennet has not ceased to be Muslim. Nor are her classmates unaware of her Muslim faith. Cennet's classmates are simply discouraged from asking her about Islam because the law treats both her hijab and her belief as taboo.
2. How will suppression of discussions about religious diversity affect children's attitudes about people who hold beliefs that are different than their own?
All societies struggle with religious intolerance. France, in particular, has experienced an alarming rise in anti-Semitic hate crimes in the past year. At the root of this hatred is fear of the other, the unknown, the unfamiliar. Yet, France's policy furthers segregation between children who hold different religious beliefs. First, children who do not take off their religious clothing are excluded from the public school system and are forced to study at home or in separate religious schools. Second, religious children who remain in public schools are taught to hide their beliefs. One effect of the prohibition on religious clothing will be to keep children ignorant of beliefs that differ from their own. But ignorance of other beliefs does not build peace, rather, it fosters suspicion and mistrust.
3. How will the prohibition on religious clothing affect children who are unable to express their religious beliefs in the classroom?
Children like Jasvir Singh, a French Sikh boy who was expelled from his school outside Paris for wearing a turban, are being marginalized from mainstream society at an early age. Not only are they deprived of the opportunity to learn because of their religious beliefs, they are being taught that they cannot fully participate in society as long as they remain true to their faith. If the French government maintains its prohibition on religious clothing, it should also prepare itself to deal with a generation of religious youth who are increasingly alienated from French society and its values.
Children, like adults, have the human right to adopt religious belief and to manifest those beliefs in public. Children ask the same questions about religious truth that adults do. They want to know where they came from, why they are here, and where they are going. If countries like France stifle the religious impulse in their children, they will stifle that which makes us most human, our search for truth and our Creator.