Students at a Rochester city school were invited to wear a hijab Friday. A hijab is a religious garment connected with Muslim faith.
We first told you about it on Thursday and heard from some parents concerned about the religious aspect of the event.
It was promoted as a cultural awareness event -- not a religious event. As part of World Hijab Day, students and faculty at World of Inquiry School were invited to try on one of the scarves worn by some women of Muslim faith.
The event was initiated after tenth grader Eman Muthana -- who routinely wears a hijab -- wrote a letter to the school concerned about how she and other girls were being viewed.
“We wanted them to experience it and feel how we feel,” says Muthana. “I just feel proud that I’m sharing my culture.”
Friday, the school set up tables in the cafeteria to allow students to ask questions -- and invited girls to try on a hijab. Boys were given carnations to show their support.
Eighth grader Kmoo Htoo says, “I wanted to show respect to the culture and I think it’s like really cool to wear.”
But as word spread on social media Thursday about the student-run event, a backlash of comments and questions about whether it was appropriate to be encouraging students to don a religious symbol in a public school.
Brett Davidsen: “Because it is a religious symbol, there’s concern about having students participating in this in a public school. What’s your response to that?”
Sheela Webster: “From our perspective, religion was not the center of the instructional process here. It was actually around learning about the cloth.”
Board of Education President Van White came to witness the event -- and says he came away proud of Muthana and the students who took part.
White: “She’s not trying to make anybody else anything other than who they are, but she just wants people to accept who she is.”
Brett Davidsen: “Does it put any pressure on the kids who don’t want to participate -- does it put them in an awkward position?”
Van White: “I don’t know -- look around, I don’t see that.”
Parents were notified by automated calls Friday about the event -- but only after media began inquiring. White says in hindsight, the school probably should have planned to bring parents into the conversation sooner, so they could have discussions with their own children about the topic.
One of the questions viewers have been asking is: What if students of other religions want to share their symbols of faith. We asked the principal about that. She says they are a hands-on learning school and they have a protocol -- if students want to share learning, they can create a proposal, connect with staff advisors and they will take a look at it.