TDSB did not discuss implications of letting 11-year-old face media over hijab story

“We have to take the parent’s lead on this,” TDSB executive Ross Parry told the Star Tuesday. “The parent wanted to speak to media, the parent then engaged with the child. That was between them.”

The Toronto District School Board says it never discussed the implications of allowing an 11-year-old girl to speak to a barrage of reporters after she had made apparently false allegations her hijab had been cut, twice.

It was “not part of the conversation,” TDSB spokesperson Ryan Bird told the Star Tuesday.

The TDSB requires that parents or guardians give permission for a person under the age 18 to take part in a media event or availability. “It’s very important that parents and guardians are responsible for this approval,” Bird said.

The 11-year-old’s unusual appearance — victims of crime under the age of 18 are traditionally not identified by police or the media — was allowed by the consent of her mother, according to Ross Parry, TDSB’s executive officer of government, public and community relations.

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