nothing exciting to report, yesterday was the last day of school, summer holidays have officially began ;))))))not that I'm going anywhere this year ;(
i will probably get to know parts of Britain, really amazing places we have here.
ok, so to what i was going to blog about, recently a friend of mine came into work looking really upset, when i asked what the problem was, it turned out that her daughters primary school where causing her a headache.
basically her daughter came home upset because every time she ate her lunch a dinner lady would approach her and tell her off for eating with her right hand and make her instead eat with her left hand, when the girl complained to a teacher the teacher replied 'all children in this primary school eat with there left hands'.
she didn't help the child just re-enforced what the dinner lady said. now apparently this has been going on for some time, and finally the girl told her mother.
my friend rang the school to speak to some one regarding this thinking that there will be a simple and easy solution and explanation, that maybe her daughter was exaggerating or something.
she found that the school was adamant on eating with the left hand, be it using cutlery or eating sandwiches with the hand etc... they where rude and they said things like ' this is a British school, we teach British etiquette's, something your daughter must learn'
they where digging a hole for themselves.
British etiquette's???? don't they know that Britain is made up of many different cultures, different backgrounds, being British has nothing to do with the above, being English maybe but that's different, the funny thing is the primary school is made up of 40% ethnic minorities.
my friend decided to write a letter of complaint, she received a reply a week later, and the reply was brilliant in that she has now a case against them and it will win as no judge will accept it. it was oozing racism and discrimination, they said things like if you don't like it then take your daughter to a faith school, British schools do not bring religion into the education or the establishment (what??? since when was Britain a secular country). and they said something equivalent to if your in Britain then you need to learn British ways???.
well my friend is not one to back off, so they are in for a ride.....
4 comments:
salaams sis u guys lucky starting hol so early! mine offcially started about an hour ago!wohoo! as to the hardship your colleague is facing i hope she gives as good as she gets inshaAllah these last few weeks i've had it up to here with the racisim and anti islam sentiment i have picked up from people, by the way was hoping to take your email address somehow or add you on facebook(if you have it) wanted to ask you about teaching stuff xxx
annon i really dont know what the big deal was and is, they are so digging a hole for themselves.
native it really is ridiculous, and sad that such a beutiful faith is being demonised by the media and many.
eternal well congrats on finally finishing wooohoooo ;) do you get ramadan of as well, that wud be nice.
i will message u on your blog
Ignorance.
Keep us posted. I wanna know what happened!
I've just stumbled on your blog through Khadija Terry's blog (she's been missing from the blogosphere for months but is back now safe and sound).
Congratulations on getting your country back. As a non-muslim, non-Libyan I'm absolutely thrilled so can't begin to imagine how elated all Libyans, both there and in exile, must feel.
I just wanted to comment that there is absolutely no "etiquette" in Britain regarding which hand one uses to eat things. Etiquette is a code of manners, the formal rules are now very much outdated, but its underlying sentiment was based on consideration of others.
There used to be a tendency to encourage naturally left handed children to use their right hand for writing but that has been abandoned because it impaired a left handed child's development.
I was quite shocked to read of your colleague's experience. Using "etiquette" as a reason to make your colleague's daughter do something which would distress her was a blatant attempt to disguise racism. And given that these were adults who were charged with the care of the child in an educational establishment I sincerely hope that everything was resolved satisfactorily.
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