Information for Educators

A Letter to Teachers

Dear Teachers:

We, two teachers, practicing the Sikh faith are writing to inform you that Sikh children in New York, New Jersey, and some other states have been harassed due to their faith. This has been caused especially because of the physical aspects that go with their faith. This letter is to address issues that may arise within your teaching arena and to offer several possible responses. It also acts as a quick educational piece on the Sikh faith to help you support your communications regarding any issues that may arise. As teachers it is our responsibility to be educated to keep our children safe.

Sikhs across North America unequivocally condemn the tragic attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The thoughts and prayers of the entire Sikh Community, which numbers over 500,000 in America, are with the victims of these attacks and their families.

We want to let you know some aspects of the Sikh faith so that you can effectively keep the children at your school and within your community safe.

Let us begin by telling you a little bit about the origins of the Sikh Faith. Sikhs are students and followers of Guru Nanak (b. 1469), the founder of the Sikh religious tradition, and the nine prophet-teachers-called Gurus-who succeeded him. Sikhs believe in the teaching of the 10 Gurus and their teachings and principles as encompassed in the Guru Granth Sahib, the holy scriptures. Though sometimes mistaken for members of a sect of Hinduism or Islam, Sikhs belong to a distinct religion.

One of the more conspicuous and noteworthy of the articles of faith is the Kesh (uncut hair), which is kept covered by a distinctive turban. The other articles are the Kirpan (ceremonial sword), Kara (iron bracelet), Kanga (comb) and Kaccha (under-shorts). They all have deep religious meanings for Sikhs, who wear them to honor the teachings, wishes, and memory of their beloved Gurus.

Sikhs wear Beards and Turbans as part of their identity. Because of this, we are easily identified by our exterior appearance. Typically, older men and woman wear turbans, and young boys wear a modified turban (dastaar) that covers a child's knotted hair and through which a bun is visible on their head. Depending on the age of the child, you may see the turban or the dastaar.

It is likely that children at your school may get harassed due to some ignorance and negligent media portrayals. Children similar to adults react with different emotions to fearful incidents. Often it is tempting to take out anger on someone to help ease our own pain. Our fear is that our Sikh brethren will be affected.

We request that you be alert and aware of possible situations that may arise. Please help us to remind students to remain calm and not to take out anger on anyone. We need to have faith that the perpetrators will be caught and justice will be served!

While the below bullet points may be obvious to us as teachers, we should push each other to proactively convey these to the students

We want to stress:

• We need to avoid jumping to any conclusions.
• Not everyone who wears a turban and has a beard is a terrorist
• Not everyone who is dark skinned is automatically connected to this incident
• Violence or verbal attacks are not acceptable means of portraying one's anger

We need to be sensitive to all comments and be alert for any racist remarks that students (or teachers) may inadvertently make. We need to remain together to get through this.

Students and teachers cannot be confused due to what the media is portraying, as no culprits have yet been pinpointed. Nonetheless the media is suspecting people of Arabic origin and often Sikhs are mistaken as Arabs or Muslims. The objective here is that neither the Sikh children nor the Arab Muslims should be harassed. We cannot stress enough that it is our responsibility as teachers to stop any of this from happening. In order for us to do this we need to be proactive and prepared. While we are providing you with information about the Sikh religion we also urge you to find information on the Muslim faith.

Our prayers are with the loved ones of those whose lives were taken by this tragic incident that has completely altered our lives. We wish you strength and courage on your way to dealing with these horrific events.
We welcome any comments or questions.

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