Reply #65: I thought schools were already a safe space. [View All]

The violence we've been discussing takes place outside of school, doesn't it? Schools already are (or were) a safe space.

Do you think those Muslim girls who would like to wear a headscarf but are now forced to expose themselves in school will continue to consider schools a "safe space"? Do you think that those Muslim girls whose parents now decide to keep them home instead of sending them to school will be grateful to the French government for "protecting their freedom"? Do you think that the Muslim community will now be more likely to assimilate into the dominant French culture rather than feel victimized by this law that was clearly aimed at them (as is widely acknowledged in France)?

Schools are not exactly social service agencies, although they do have a role to play. For example, in the U.S., if a child comes to school covered with bruises, or has many unexplained absences, the school has a responsibility to notify authorities so that the situation can be investigated. I imagine France has a similar system. That is certainly much different from going into people's homes and simply looking for offenses, which is not something I would ever advocate in any country.

I must also disagree with your assertion that "Other religions in France have made accommodations to secular culture in the public schools. Islam will be no exception, especially where devoting half your head to a religious garment is concerned." This ban certainly does not affect all religions equally. No Christian sect that I know of requires its followers to wear crosses. Yet, a 17-year-old French Christian girl can still wear a small cross to school, even though it serves no other purpose than to publicly proclaim her religion. But a 17-year-old French Muslim girl can no longer wear a scarf over her hair even though she considers it a religious and cultural obligation, and is not intended as a public proclamation of her religion but as an expression of modesty. How would you feel to be forced to expose a part of your body you had always considered private?