We have a minority liaison at our school that also happens to be Muslim and wear a hijab. I wrote about this before here. Last year she was asked to visit classrooms and explain about the hijab and so this year she emailed us this video to show to our kids.
When I wrote about it previously I said that I realized all kids were the same and in some sense they are. I think the goal is to treat every kid fairly…however as I have become a better teacher I have realized that fair doesn’t mean equal. It is to celebrate differences and make sure everyone gets what they need. I pulled my 3 Muslim girls aside and watched the video with just them because I wanted them to know what was coming and for them to feel comfortable about it. They all said this was a good video for the kids to watch.
So I showed it to my class and afterward the kids asked questions to the girl (including one that no longer wears her hijab to school because when she wore it in Kindergarten she was teased). It was such a great moment for those girls to share their pride and knowledge about the hijab and their faith. The girls also told us about being teased and being asked if they were bald or had ugly hair and that’s why they wore them. It also gave the other kids time to ask questions that they probably had been wondering for some time and I think everyone learned something.
I was also really moved when the girls spoke about being teased and I could feel the other kids in the room feeling very sorry that they were made fun of about this as well as enraged. They then began asking how they can stick up for their friends if they see someone teasing a girl wearing a hijab. I certainly learned a lot that day, the biggest being that instead of pretending they were all the same I was able to celebrate their differences; at least in a small way. It about broke my heart to find out that one of my girls doesn’t wear a hijab because she had been made fun of.
Here is the video I showed my kids. I highly recommend watching it and I almost guarantee you’ll learn something!
