France Bans Hijabs for Under 18s

[Insaanistan]

Not Muslim, but I started to choose to wear veils to church when I was about 16. Teenagers definitely have a right to have their religious views and to wear symbols of their religious views.

I'd be fine with it being lowered to 15 or 16.

I know a 13 year old who just decided to wear the hijab all on her own.

You can’t put an age on something like this.

[Ostroeuropa]

I'd be fine with it being lowered to 15 or 16.

I know a 13 year old who just decided to wear the hijab all on her own.

You can’t put an age on something like this.

I'd be happy to discuss details, but the broad principle of a ban for young children alongside a ban on the parent deciding on their behalf should remain. I think 15-16 is a good baseline with a mechanism to allow exceptions. The key is to triangulate a means to protect children who have not decided to wear it, while allowing those who have.

[Vorausen]

All I know is that if a law like this were to be passed in America, it would immediately be considered unconstitutional. Unless of course there was evidence that hijabs would be a distraction in class and would start the school environment ( which would be hard to pull off since most school rulebooks say that hats are not allowed "unless it is for religious reasons" and expceptions can be made).

[Kilobugya]

I'd be happy to discuss details, but the broad principle of a ban for young children alongside a ban on the parent deciding on their behalf should remain. I think 15-16 is a good baseline with a mechanism to allow exceptions. The key is to triangulate a means to protect children who have not decided to wear it, while allowing those who have.

Well, very very few young children do wear it, if any at all. I think we are just making a big thing of a non-existent problem there. Those who do wear it are mostly older teens.

I definitely agree they shouldn't be forced by their parents to wear it, but banning it altogther for that reason doesn't make sense. I also believe parents shouldn't be allowed to force their children to attend a Christian mass if they don't want to, but we won't ban children from entering churches to enforce it.

[Borderlands of Rojava]

I know a 13 year old who just decided to wear the hijab all on her own.

You can’t put an age on something like this.

I'd be happy to discuss details, but the broad principle of a ban for young children alongside a ban on the parent deciding on their behalf should remain. I think 15-16 is a good baseline with a mechanism to allow exceptions. The key is to triangulate a means to protect children who have not decided to wear it, while allowing those who have.

You're really gonna ban a headscarf? I mean ostro, this is a little tyrannical. I don't like forcing kids to wear a veil but I also don't like forcing children not to. The issue is people should be able to dress as they want to. Both extremely pro hijab and vehemently anti hijab people fail to understand this.

[Vorausen]

I'd be happy to discuss details, but the broad principle of a ban for young children alongside a ban on the parent deciding on their behalf should remain. I think 15-16 is a good baseline with a mechanism to allow exceptions. The key is to triangulate a means to protect children who have not decided to wear it, while allowing those who have.

You're really gonna ban a headscarf? I mean ostro, this is a little tyrannical. I don't like forcing kids to wear a veil but I also don't like forcing children not to. The issue is people should be able to dress as they want to. Both extremely pro hijab and vehemently anti hijab people fail to understand this.

Shouldn't there be some sort of group that ensures religion is not being forced on children and would also try to help ban Islamic laws being enforced in communities? Kind of "a Religious right group?" ensuring that religion and government stay separate?

[Kilobugya]

Shouldn't there be some sort of group that ensures religion is not being forced on children and would also try to help ban Islamic laws being enforced in communities? Kind of "a Religious right group?" ensuring that religion and government stay separate?

We have a Constitution and a law ensuring religion and government stay separate.

As for ensuring religion is not being forced on children, if that's really what they wanted to do, they would ban religious schools before 18 (or perhaps 16), not ban headscarves. But no, there is no way they'll do that, because they (the right-wing Senators who promote such kind of laws) send their own children to expensive private Christian schools, and definitely do not want their kids to be mixed with the general population. The real separatists are the rich, not the Muslims.

[Islamic Holy Sites]

You're really gonna ban a headscarf? I mean ostro, this is a little tyrannical. I don't like forcing kids to wear a veil but I also don't like forcing children not to. The issue is people should be able to dress as they want to. Both extremely pro hijab and vehemently anti hijab people fail to understand this.

Shouldn't there be some sort of group that ensures religion is not being forced on children and would also try to help ban Islamic laws being enforced in communities? Kind of "a Religious right group?" ensuring that religion and government stay separate?

That's the governments job.

[Fahran]

Shouldn't there be some sort of group that ensures religion is not being forced on children and would also try to help ban Islamic laws being enforced in communities? Kind of "a Religious right group?" ensuring that religion and government stay separate?

There's usually no need for parents to "force" religion on their children, and, in any case, I doubt that happens more often in the Muslim community than in the Jewish community. If you grow up attending a particular religious institution, inundated with particular religious views, attitudes, values, practices, and traditions, and set in a particular identity, you're going to become accustomed to it at a young age. At most, some children might not want to attend church or mosque and their parents, because they exercise authority over them, may force the point. It's not more abusive than anything else parents may do, presuming the child's reason for not wanting to attend is not substantial. In France, we have reason to suspect that the youngest generation of Muslims is more observant than their parents or grandparents. So it's not really an issue of parents forcing religion on children.

In any case, the enforcement of such laws introduces more problems than it really solves and subjugates parental authority over a dependent person for the state as an arbiter where such a role is not necessary, not wanted, and often draconian and discriminatory.