Thread: Parents' Outrage As Kids Made To 'Dress As A Muslim'

Catholic school girl who refused headscarf for mosque trip labelled a truant

By James Tozer
Last updated at 7:47 AM on 13th May 2010
Comments 702

A Roman Catholic schoolgirl has been labelled a truant after she refused to wear a headscarf during a compulsory trip to a mosque.

Amy Owen, 14, and fellow girl pupils at a Catholic secondary school were told to cover their heads and wear trousers or leggings out of respect for their Muslim hosts.

But when her mother objected, saying she did not want her daughter to 'dress as a Muslim', she received a sternly worded warning letter from the headmaster saying she had no choice.



Michelle Davies' daughter Amy Owen was ordered to wear a headscarf and trousers or leggings for a school trip to a mosque

Peter Lee, head of Ellesmere Port Catholic High School in Cheshire, informed her that the local diocese 'requires' pupils to have an understanding of other religions.

In the letter - with words in block capitals and underlined - Mr Lee said the visit was 'as compulsory as a geography field trip'.

He added: 'There are two reasons for these visits. One is that the scheme of work in religious studies REQUIRES children to have knowledge and understanding of other world religions.

'The second is that the school is REQUIRED to promote tolerance respect and understanding. This is known as community cohesion.

'A failure to do this could result in an unwelcome inspection judgement. None of us would relish that.

'Whilst I may not require you to pay for this I must require your child to participate.'



The Ellesmere Port Catholic High School letter to parents notifying them of the trip to the Al Rahma Mosque in Toxteth, Liverpool

Amy's mother Michelle Davies refused to back down and, after being told no teachers would be back at school to keep an eye on her daughter, she kept her at home, citing religious objections - as did as many as ten other families.

Yesterday, after the school acted on its threat to class Amy's absence as truancy, Miss Davies accused it of discriminating against Christian pupils.

'It's like they're putting a gun to your head - either you go to a mosque, or you're marked down as an unauthorised absence on your record - that's it no two ways about it,' the 34-year-old said.

'It's like they are saying she is playing truant for not wearing a head scarf. If the trip had been without the leggings and the headscarf, that would have been fine but I wasn't having my daughter dressed in the Muslim way.

'She's proud of her school uniform and what it represents and she should be able to wear it like she would on any normal school trip.



The trip to the mosque was organised so that students could 'deepen their understanding and broaden their knowledge' of Islam

'She likes to learn, she takes history and she is really interested in it, she wants to learn, but she can do that her classroom without changing the way she dresses.

'I even did some research on the internet about non-Muslims attending mosques and it says you don't have to adhere to the dress code.

'I also fail to see how a three-hour trip to a mosque is of any educational value to a Catholic when she can learn about the Muslim faith in the classroom.

'I can guarantee that if there were ten Muslim girls coming to our school it would adhere to what they wanted, because that's their faith, their religion, their dress code.'

Parents were asked to make a £3 payment towards the Year 9 trip to the Al Rahma Mosque in Liverpool last month, and an 11-point dress and behaviour code from the mosque was circulated.

Miss Davies, a home help, of Ellesmere Port, added: 'There are some parts of religious education lessons that children who are Jehovah's Witnesses don't have to attend because that's part of their religion, and the fact is Amy is Catholic and not a Muslim.'

Last year, Ofsted praised the school's 'caring Catholic ethos' but said it needed to do more 'to enhance wider cultural development'.



The school says the trip was an exciting and unique opportunity for students

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... ruant.html

Hero students leap into river to save drowning woman... as police officers REFUSE to help

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 12:19 PM on 12th May 2010
Comments 622



Three students were hailed as heroes last night after rescuing a drowning woman - as police stood by and watched.

Graham McGrath, Rosie Lucey and Rhys Black were walking beside the Albert Bridge in Glasgow when they saw the 37-year-old in the River Clyde, shouting for help.

Mr McGrath and Miss Lucey jumped in and pulled her to the bank. Mr Black then waded in and dragged all three ashore.
Graham McGrath, Rosie Lucey and Rhys Black (not pictured) helped save the life of a woman drowning in the River Clyde

Brave and fast-acting: Graham McGrath, Rosie Lucey and Rhys Black (not pictured) helped save the life of a woman drowning in the River Clyde

But as the courageous trio performed the dramatic rescue, Strathclyde Police officers held back worried onlookers on Glasgow's Albert bridge.

A Strathclyde Police spokesman said: 'It is not the responsibility of the police to go into the water - it's the fire and rescue service.'

The trio, who are all 18-year-old first-year students at Glasgow University, yesterday recalled the rescue, which happened at around 1.30pm on Saturday.

Mr McGrath said: 'There was a woman in the water shouting for help. There was somebody throwing lifebelts to her, but she couldn't get to them.

'It became apparent nobody was doing anything else. She was getting lower and lower in the water.'

Miss Lucey said: 'We realised we were watching someone drown.'

After dragging the woman to the bank, the three teenagers carried out CPR to revive her.

Earth sciences student Mr Black said: 'She'd been under the water for two minutes. Her lips were blue and her tongue was white.

'We couldn't find a pulse anywhere but we kept on going. She eventually gurgled and a lot of water came out of her mouth.'

Moments later, the emergency services arrived and the woman was taken to hospital. It is understood she is recovering.

Police Superintendent Fiona McPherson said: 'We congratulate the actions of these very brave individuals. They managed to get to her moments before the emergency services arrived.'

George Parsonage of the Glasgow Humane Society, who has rescued 1,500 people from the river, said the students' actions had been 'heroic'.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... EFUSE.html

1. It's coming here

2. I'll never visit this dirty little country

3. What the hell happened to Britain; the country of the Magna Carta

4. Public servant Cowards .. Why in the hell do they even have jobs

Can muslims respect free speech, which covers things like political cartoons?