By Majed Iqbal- Muslim parents who withdrew their children out of school to prevent them being taught about lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans-gender relationships are facing prosecution.
The East London primary, George Tomlinson School, has hit the headlines when around 30 pupils were absent from a week of special lessons to highlight non-heterosexual partnerships.
The row has once again bought the debate forward to the suitability of such explicit subjects, which were once introduced in the late years of High School some years back and are now being exposed and presented to young children at Primary Level.
As part of the ‘learning' process, students were planned to watch a special adaptation of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet retitled Romeo and Julian. Stories covered in the lessons at George Tomlinson School included a fairytale about a prince who turns down three princesses before falling in love with one of their brothers and the tale of Roy and Silo - two male penguins who fall in love.
The Muslim community in East London has been taken back by the threats when the local council announced that action would be taken against those parents for failing to bring their children to school.
A spokesman for Waltham Forest Council said the absences would be treated as "unauthorised" and action had been taken, but refused to say what sanctions were put in place.
Pervez Latif, whose children Saleh, ten, and Abdur-Rahim, nine, attend the school, said both Christian and Muslim parents objected to the theme linked to Lesbian Gay Bisexual Trans-gender History Month.
Sarah Saeed, 40, also took her eight-year-old daughter out of school during the week. She claims she told the school she would remove her daughter if they went ahead with their plans. "It is not an appropriate age for the children to be learning such matters" she said.
The moves towards teaching such topics have been part of a pilot test which government is planning to eventually roll out throughout the country. Under the title of sex and relationship education, which is currently in the consultation process, children as young as five will be exposed to sexual issues and relationships, whilst denying the right of parents and guardians to withdraw their children from the lessons.
The UK Youth parliament, who has been an active voice in the design of this project, have been ambitious "to improve sex and relationships education in schools".
On their website they write "No school or parent should be able to prevent a young person receiving good, high quality sex and relationships education. Young people want the facts. We will continue to fight to ensure young people's voices are heard on this issue and that every young person, regardless of background, school, or faith has the opportunity to learn about sex and relationships.
Despite the Youth parliament having 15 Muslim members, with 7 alone in the North West and Yorkshire region, protest against this new project has been absent.
The links between this SRE project and the governments "contest 2" strategy, revealed earlier last month to tackle extremism, has once again bought the "shared values" debate to the table. Do people living in Britain today believe in the values underpinned in British society? Do people share the idea of being Liberal and tolerant in their views? Are views from religions, primarily Islam, compatible to co-exist in a secular society?
Such have been the questions presented in both strategies and projects whose primary focus, by in large has been the Muslim community. The East London Primary School in their pilot project has been forthright in asserting key views which communities, regardless of their beliefs and religious outlook, must accept as core Values of British Society.
"As part of the borough's policy of promoting tolerance in our schools, children are taught that everyone in our society is of equal value," said A spokesman for Waltham Forest Council the spokesman.
This discussion goes far beyond tackling attendance of school children. Already parents from various backgrounds have raised issues about the exposure of sex related learning at such a young age and the re-enforcement of these messages through magazines, films and music. In fact, the home secretary Jacqui Smith, herself showed great concern on the ‘sexualisation of children', specifically aimed at girls by ‘irresponsible' media.
Despite Britain possessing the lead record for teenage pregnancies, and the recent case of the thirteen year old dad, not all communities are affected at the same scale- in fact in some it is a minute problem. The Muslim community has been safer in this regard because of its social views based on Islam and the promotion of the family unit through marriage.
The East London case is therefore open for discussion to put the arguments on the table. Have liberal, secular values and the promotion of freedom minimised or exacerbated the social problems that have plagued Britain today?
Maybe an insight into this debate and discussion will help shed some light to the reasoning behind Muslim parents pulling out their children from he lessons on lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans gender relationships.
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