Hillsborough school spokeswoman hoped “it's an isolated case”.

CAIRO, February 20, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – An American school has disciplined a 24-year-old teacher for harassing and threatening a sixth-grader because his name is Islam.

Shari D. Wilson, a substitute teacher in Temple Terrace, Hillsborough County, Florida, told the Muslim pupil that Islam was “not good” and when he protested she told him he would not “see the light of day,” St Petersburg Times reported on Saturday, February 19.

“Your mother must have been sleeping all her life because she did not teach you any manners,” she further said.

Islam complained to the principle who ordered Wilson, who has a degree in biomedical sciences from the University of South Florida, to leave the campus.

When she refused, Temple Terrace police issued her a trespass warning.

Marwan, a glass worker from Jordan, said he only wants his son “to feel like he belongs…to feel like every other kid, loving his country and his school.”

He said adults can handle such discriminatory comments but not young children.

“Kids, they are babies, for God's sake. He doesn't feel like he belongs.”

Confidential Discipline

Hillsborough school spokeswoman Linda Cobbe said school officials disciplined Wilson.

She declined to give details, saying it must remain confidential until 10 days after the investigation's conclusion.

“If a teacher or any employee treated a student disrespectfully because of his religion, we would look very closely at that person's employment,” Cobbe stressed.

She, however, declined to say whether Wilson will be allowed to teach at other Hillsborough schools.

Wilson has substituted at nine campuses, most of them middle schools. Her employment file does not show any previous discipline problems.

“We hope it's an isolated case,” Cobbe said. “We don't have any indication there is pervasive disrespect of other religions.”

Sensitivity Training

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) lambasted Wilson's comments as a case of religious discrimination and demanded an investigation.

“This is not something a teacher should say to a sixth-grade student,” said Ahmed Bedier, the council's director.

He wrote a letter to Hillsborough school superintendent Earl Lennard, requesting sensitivity training for all substitute teachers.

Bedier estimated Hillsborough's Muslim population at 30,000 people, with thousands of them students in public school classrooms.

He hoped Islam's experience makes educators more sensitive to racial diversity.

Prior to teaching, Hillsborough County substitute teachers must attend three days of training that includes three hours of instruction on ethics, the same as certified teachers.

“We hold substitute teachers to the same standards as other teachers,” Cobbe said. “We expect them to treat all children with respect.”

Bedier said the incident is a sign of continuing discrimination against Muslims since the 9/11 attacks.

“Discrimination and prejudice is not just a white on black issue anymore,” he said.

A May 2004 report released by the US Senate Office Of Research concluded that Arab Americans and the Muslim community in the US have taken the brunt of the Patriot Act and other federal powers applied in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.

“Not all teachers mean to do harm, but ignorance is a bad thing especially for teachers,” Bedier said.

“With ignorance comes fear. Fear pushes people to do bad things.”

A recent nation-wide poll, conducted by the Cornell University, showed that at least 44 percent of the Americans backs curbing Muslims’ civil rights and monitoring their places of worship.

Dress Code

In a separate but related incident, a Muslim woman in Omaha, Nebraska, was happy being able to help change a public swimming pool's dress code, reported the Associated Press.

Lubna Hussein had been barred from accompanying her three children to the pool area because she was fully clothed, even though she was not going in the water.

It took a federal lawsuit to get dress code altered.

The suit has now been settled and the dress code accommodates religious or medical needs.

Hussein says she was twice turned away from the pool after explaining her religion requires her to keep her body covered, except for her face and hands.

Hussein says her little girls are looking forward to trying out the water slide.