As France banned religious symbols in schools and the French community attempts to settle into its new routine, I wondered what kind of precedence this would set to the world at large. I have worn the hijab at different times of my life on 3 different continents and each time, the experience brings new lessons for me about tolerance and understanding.

As a young girl, my father requested that I don a headscarf shortly after I was obliged to under Islamic rules. Admittedly, my faith was not as strong as I wished it had been. I wore this on and off it was odd being one of the very few Asians in a predominantly Hispanic neighbourhood in Philadelphia and as one can imagine, it was even odder to be one of the even fewer Muslim Asian girls in the area. My late mother wore hers, but she didn't have to go to school.

I wore it in different styles as to not attract too much attention. I would say that most teenagers go through the same thing try as much as possible to fit in. Growing up in a Hispanic neighbourhood saw every teenager I knew (Asians, Caucasians and African-American included) trying to blend in and not be singled out. Of course, these attempts were futile. The bullies picked on my clothes, my skin colour and my hijab.

Little red riding hood

My 6th grade teacher, a Mrs Winokur, a Jewish lady who was in charge of my home room, saw my little internal conflict. One afternoon, as I was about to leave the class, she called me over and passed me a parcel. I happily tore it open, and found two silk scarves a black and white polka dotted design and an abstract pattern on off-white. Mrs Winokur had a knack for bridging the differences within the class. She organized a "Food of the World" program every Wednesday after school a sort of hands-on, show-and-tell for international cuisine.

I brought my bergedil (Javanese potato cakes minus the usual beef) and a classmate brought a dish made of grape leaves and pine nuts. We all then made brownies, together. Every month or so, she would bring in speakers from various walks of life. The most memorable one was a Holocaust survivor, a very old man whose arm still bore the marks of a serial number, burned into his skin in his youth. We all wrote "Thank You" notes to him after he left. This was when I learned that the Swastika is an inappropriate design for my note. I redid my note with flowery borders and learned a bit of history, and a very important lesson that day.

When my 7th grade music teacher insisted that I took off my hijab, in view of the blanket ruling with the boys on not wearing caps indoors, my friends defended me. The teacher then backed down and asked that I bring in a letter from my Ustaz to verify my requirement. After I submitted my letter, there was no more drama, and I managed to learn a little bit about the orchestras of the world that term, and my music teacher learned about how much this hijab-ed girl loved to play the violin.

Ignorance, when addressed, gave way to understanding - removing the barriers of fear and the basis for prejudice. Soon enough, my classmates and I were able to discuss things openly, and as I made my transition into a Muslim woman, there were enough people around me who understood and gave me support in a time of my life where people just aren't too kind to those who are not seen as 'normal'.

Start young

Which brings me to why I am beginning to feel somewhat disturbed by what's happening in France, and by the many more people who are willing to jump on the bandwagon to push a homogenous culture to our young. Crosses on Christian children and head scarves on Muslim children are not the roots of today's global conflicts. Ignorance is. While I would agree that a sense of equality, even at a superficial level, has to be inculcated at an early stage in life, we should also prepare our children for the real world - one where we have to live with differences of all kinds.

If our young are not taught to not shake in fear at the sight of a symbol of another religion, how will she be able to engage the world around him as an adult, where culture, religion, faith and beliefs are a major part of the world as it is? Religion, or rather, faith - it is not a destination; it is a path which some choose to walk. Those who choose to follow a form of organized religion, that's their right as much as those who don't. Seeing the similarities and learning about the differences, serves to create understanding of those who are different from us more, and fear them less.

Religious icons in school raises questions that we adults may not be able to answer ourselves. But perhaps we should consider the alternative - that the signs of devotion of other cultures terrify the next generation so much so that it breeds paranoia and further isolation. If this is possible, shouldn't we change our paradigms sooner rather than later?

NAJAH NASSERI is an investment consultant with a technopreneur grant program. She has an intense relationship with her iBook, the only book that can really hold her very short attention span. She wants to be an astronaut when she grows up.


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