Quote Originally Posted by Ignatius
I've been following this debate quite closely and I agree with Torog 100%.

With regard to her position as a teaching assistant it is imperative that she remove that veil during classes, and anywhere that children will see her. The sight of a woman in a burkha and a veil which coveres the full face is frightening for a small child. When my daughter was a little younger than she is now she found the sight of these women in full veil and burkha to be quite terrifying. Whenever we passed them in the street she would instinctively cling to me in fear. Now, I don't think my little girl is a racist. She has a lot of friends of all clours in her class and she plays with them all. It's not an issue within the home either as she sees my friends of all races coming to visit and stuff. There's just something terrifying about someone wearing a mask when you are a small child. No amount of cultural readjustment or any other such nonsense is going to change that. The woman can either take off that veil or lose her job. No two ways about it. Would they let me go into a school dressed up as Darth Vader? Of course not, so let's have a bit of common sense here. England is a secular country and religion is a private issue. It ought to be kept that way.

Incidentally, I heard the woman in question being interviewed on the radio the other day and she sounded like a complete cretin. As well as having nothing to say of any note, and being unable to string a sentence together without using the word "ermmmmm" she was possessed of a quite obvious speech impediment. Coupled with a very strong "asian" accent it was practically impossible to understand a word she was saying.
Well I'm from somewhere not so secular and private about religion and I think your statement about a child being scared to death of some lady with her face covered up is probably true, but in an extreme way. I'm sure there could, in fact, be adjustment especially with a child. A child would not see this lady and shun her from her/his life...they could get to know this teacher and actually be raised in a culturally disparate enviroment. That way were not rasing a bunch of sheltered, arrogant children oblivous to the fact its possible for people to look different then mommy or daddy.

Other than that I have never heard this lady talk or seen her I just know of her situation, and felt that the idea of the way she chooses to dress her self, be it for beliefs or not, wouldn't effect a child.

Safety of course is another issue. Pit Bulls attack everyday, for that reason most people treat that particular dog differently then other dogs. Muslims in veils have been known to be violent, as a result are treated differently.