The Hijab in Public Schools

Abstract

As the number of Muslim students in public schools in the United States has increased, so have challenges to their rights to religious expression. In Hearn and United States v. Muskogee Public School District in 2004, the government defended the right of a 6th-grade student, Nashala Hearn, to wear her hijab (religious headscarf) to school. The attorneys argued that the school's ban on hats had been inappropriately applied to Hearn, and her rights to free speech and exercise had been violated. Despite the study of world religions in social studies courses, Muslim practices and beliefs are often misunderstood by educators as well as students. The religion of girls and women who wear the hijab is recognizable, and many Muslims describe prejudice and Islamophobia in school settings. For this study, 65 Muslim women who live in the United States and wear the hijab responded to open-ended questions on surveys about their reasons for covering and their experiences. Although 55% of the participants described their experiences in the United States as positive or mostly positive, 78% wrote about one or more incidents of maltreatment due to anti-Muslim bias. The majority of the respondents attended elementary, middle, or high school in the United States. The findings suggest that educational initiatives to promote an understanding of religious practices and civil rights are warranted.