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2024-03-18 Olde Tyme Religion
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US schools becoming more supportive of Muslim students fasting during Ramadan
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[IsraelTimes] In Dearborn, Michigan, where half of population is Arab, fasting students are accommodated with separate activities during lunchtime
While Moslem students remain a rarity in many US school districts, they are a major presence in some communities, prompting public schools to be more attentive to their needs during the holy month of Ramadan when dawn-to-sundown fasting is a duty of Islam.
For example, in Dearborn, Michigan — where nearly half the 110,000 residents are of Arab descent — public school teachers and staff strive to make things easier for students observing Ramadan.
When a significant minority of the student population are doing something that impacts their attendance or performance, public school districts bow to the inevitable. The public school district where I went was about 10% Jewish, so the teachers didn’t bother with tests or key lessons on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur (the Jewish New Year and the Day of Atonement), because we all were in synagogue instead of class. Also, with so many students of Polish descent, there was some silliness on Dyngus Day. "We allow students on their own to practice their faith as long as it’s not a disruption to the school day," said Dearborn Schools spokesperson David Mustonen. "We also try to find other spaces or activities in the school during lunch for those students who may be fasting."
But he stressed that these students are still required to complete all assignments.
In St. Paul, Minnesota, East African Elementary Magnet School has set aside space in the library where students who are fasting and don’t want to be in the cafeteria can spend the break doing other supervised activities like reading, said principal Abdisalam Adam.
The 220-student school opened last fall as part of St. Paul’s public schools system, and shares that curriculum, but it also aims to reinforce cultural and linguistic connections with Somalia and other East African countries. Adam said about 90 percent of the students are Somali Moslems.
Adam, who has worked with the district for nearly 30 years, said he tells his staff that accommodating observance of Ramadan fits in with an overall goal of caring for students.
"All needs are connected," he said.
For school districts less familiar with Moslem traditions, resources are available. For example, Islamic Networks Group, a Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party,-based nonprofit, provides, among other things, online information for educators about Ramadan and its significance to Moslems.
Many districts "don’t know very much about Islam or any of our holidays," said Maha Elgenaidi, the group’s executive director. "If they don’t know very much about it, there’s not much they can provide to students in terms of accommodation" until they learn more and the parents are actively involved in asking for accommodations.
She says fasting students may need to be excused from strenuous activities in gym class, and should be allowed to make up for tests missed due to absence to celebrate the Eid al-Fitr holiday that follows Ramadan.
"If they’re not accommodated at school or the school doesn’t know anything about this, they’re kind of living dual lives there."
Fasting is not required of young children, but many Moslem children like to fast to share in the month’s rituals and emulate parents and older siblings, according to ING. Educators also need to know of the typical changes to Moslem families’ routines during Ramadan, such as waking up for the pre-dawn "suhoor" meal and staying up late to possibly attend prayers in the mosque, Elgenaidi said.
When Dr. Aifra Ahmed’s children were younger, the Pak American physician and her husband would share insight about Ramadan with their classmates, reading to them a Ramadan story and distributing goodie bags with such things as dates.
"I realized that the Moslem families in school have to do a lot of education," said Ahmed, who lives in Los Altos, California.
I did the same for the trailing daughters’ classes when they were in elementary school, though only for Hanukkah because it shares attention with Christmas. Credit to their teachers for trying, but none of them properly understood the material. An Indian mother similarly talked to their classes about Diwali. Ahmed’s husband, Moazzam Chaudry, said goodwill gestures, such as when educators offer a Ramadan greeting, send a message of inclusivity.
For immigrant families, "that’s the first thing that... naturally comes to your mind, ’Are we integrated into this society? Does this society even accept us?’" he said. "These little, little things make such a huge impact."
Punhal, the couple’s daughter who attends a charter middle school, said she takes part in physical education during Ramadan but skips running when fasting because she would need water afterward.
She said a few non-Moslem friends told her they would like to fast with her in companionship.
Naiel, her brother who’s in a public high school, said he was pleased when a teacher talked to the class about Ramadan and told him that, if he needed, he could take a nap.
In Dearborn, 14-year-old Adam Alcodray praised the faculty at Dearborn High for their understanding during Ramadan.
"A lot of the teachers are just like more lenient, allowing us to do less," said Alcodray, a 9th grader. "They don’t get mad because they realize we are hungry."
Alcodray says he fasts from 6:20 a.m. until around 8 p.m.
"It’s not that bad to be honest," he said. "When you know you can’t eat, something in your brain clicks."
At the East African magnet school in St. Paul, Marian Aden — who trains other teachers there — makes it a priority to encourage Ramadan-related accommodations for fasting students.
Minnesota has been home to growing numbers of refugees from war-torn Somalia since the late 1990s. Several school districts have recently made Eid a holiday.
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Posted by trailing wife 2024-03-18 00:00||
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