Thread by @SayeedaWarsi

As lockdown starts to ease and the weather gets better.......its the season for us all to get rather vexed about the #CharlieHebdo cartoons .....again.
So media peeps here is a non sensational run down of what’s going on in #Batley
A thread

Blasphemy has long been debated and discussed in numerous faiths and so is a legitimate topic for discussion in an Religious Education curriculum. Indeed until just over a decade ago we still had, albeit not used, Blasphemy laws on our statute books!

An RE teacher taught blasphemy by using the #CharlieHebdo cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed wearing a “bomb” turban. This according to parents at the school created a hostile atmosphere and led to islamophobic discourse and language.

Islamaphobic bullying in the playground is well documented and taunts such as “terrorist’ are regularly used leading to issues around mental health and poor educational outcomes.
kidscape.org.uk/news/2019/may/…

Where pupils have lost months and months of school teaching because of Covid , creating a positive and inclusive teaching environment I am sure is a priority for #Batley Grammar School and anything that detracts from that cannot be in the best interests of the pupils.

This is a child safeguarding issue not a Cartoon issue, its about smart teaching not point scoring & whilst tragically Covid continues to kill can I urge the small but noisy group of protestors to calm down & go home. There are better ways to enjoy the good weather.

The suspended teacher should not be named, nor hounded, but the school should ask whether the issue of Blasphemy could have been taught in a better way that didn’t necessitate the use of cartoons depicting Muslims wearing bomb turbans. Ive happy to support the schools learning.

And oh on a final note can the anti Muslim “usual suspects” , commentators , media outlets, twitter trolls, politicos stop wetting yourself in anticipation of a “them Muslims” row- this is about children