Home Services Booking Resources Fund Raising About Us Contact Us   Parental objections to visits We are very concerned about the increasing number of parents who are objecting to their children coming to inner city Derby and visiting places of worship. Parents have the legal right to withdraw their children from all or part of RE. A visit to inner city Derby may be seen as part of RE, Geography, Citizenship or just part of the school's "Learning Outside The Classroom" activity. We need your help We need to collect information about the reasons behind parental objections. Schools most follow the wishes of parents if they want to withdraw their children from all or part of RE but there is no reason why parents can't be asked what their concerns are. It would be a huge help to us if you could complete the very short questionnaire below each time you receive a parental objection. Please click here for our advice on handling parental objections before completing the questionnaire. Note about the validity of parental objections Racism can sometimes hide behind criticism of religion but it would be a great mistake to assume that parental objections are a result of prejudice and it would be totally unacceptable to accuse parents of racism or to assume that they were being racist by objecting to visits. Religions, and some of the things done in the name of religions, feature very highly in daily news reporting so it is not at all surprising that parents have concerns. Please see the end of this page for more on this. Anticipating objections The best way to overcome objections, and to alleviate concerns, is to anticipate them and prepare for them. The Open Centre is happy to provide speakers, free of charge, for parents' evenings prior to organising visits. We are also happy to sit down with individual parents, or small groups of parents, to discuss their concerns. We have experience in this and we are certain that we can deal with all (or almost all) possible concerns that parents may raise. The best way to resolve concerns is to bring them out into the open and discuss them in a free and open manner. Please contact us and we will be delighted to help. Parental confidentiality Please note: we do not ask you to identify the parents who are objecting - we are only interested in the reasons. Questionnaire This questionnaire helps us to analyse objections but please give us a call if you would like to discuss things on the phone in addition to providing the information below. Name of school or organisation : LEA (e.g. Derby City) : Your name : Your email address : Nature of objections : Check as many as required. Concern about safety of children when visiting the Normanton area Concern about a religion other than the parents' own Concern about religion in general Fears as a result of media reporting of what is done in the name of religion Concern about dress - for example, the need to cover hair in a place of worship Concern over cost of visits Overtly expressed prejudice against certain ethnic groups (see note below) Additional reasons that may be given :     Click "No" if you get a security warning. Important note about prejudice and racism It is not racist, nor is it against the law, to criticise Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hunduism or any set of beliefs - religious or non-religious. Our hard-earned right to freedom of speech, to be able to criticise any set of ideas, is fundamental to our democracy and is clearly laid out in section 29J of the Racial and Religious Hatred Act, 2006: 29J: Protection of freedom of expression. Nothing in this Part shall be read or given effect in a way which prohibits or restricts discussion, criticism or expressions of antipathy, dislike, ridicule, insult or abuse of particular religions or the beliefs or practices of their adherents, or of any other belief system or the beliefs or practices of its adherents, or proselytising or urging adherents of a different religion or belief system to cease practising their religion or belief system. Religious groups are not ethnic groups. Christians are not an ethnic group, Muslims are not an ethnic group. Many Muslims in Derby happen to come from a Pakistani background - i.e. they, their parents or their grandparents originally came from Pakistan which became a separate country in 1947. Even experts get tied in knots when trying to unravel what is meant by "race" or "ethnic group" so it is doubly difficult for parents. It is equally difficult for teachers to decide if objections come from concern about what is done in the name of religion or from prejudice based on a person's skin colour or ethnic background. The media would have us believe that anyone who objects to what is done by a few people in the name of Islam is guilty of "Islamophobia" - a word invented by the media so presumably there could also be "Christianityphobia" etc. This is nonsense - highly dangerous and socially divisive nonsense. Everyone, including parents, should be aware that it is perfectly legitimate to criticise religious ideas, or to criticise what is done in the name of any set of beliefs. However, treating all Christians, or all Muslims, as if they were extremists is totally unacceptable. The overwhelming majority of religious people want absolutely nothing to do with those who call for or commit violence in the name of their religion. Some Islamic theocratic countries are now proposing a UN resolution that, because "Islamophobia" has become so widespread, "defamation of religion" should be an international offence. In other words, they are trying to create a universal blasphemy law, and prevent the legitimate criticism of religious ideas, on the back of a media generated term. We have already seen the murder of those opposed to blasphemy laws in Pakistan. Our advice is never to use the word "Islamophobia" nor to accept the word when it is used to describe others. The Open Centre can bring these issues out into the open during a parents' evening, or when talking to individual or small groups of parents, so please do not hesitate to contact us if we can be of help.

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