CΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Newsround uncovers findings of specially commissioned research into
children's attitudes towards Muslims in the UK.
In a special week of programmes, Newsround - the only dedicated news
service for children - will be looking at what life is like for young
Muslims here in the UK and around the world.
Muslims have found themselves in the headlines regularly since the events
of September 11 2001, and many feel they are portrayed unfairly.
How much do children generally understand about the Muslim faith?
The first of the week's special programmes will feature the findings
of two surveys commissioned by the Newsround team to discover children's
attitudes towards Muslims in the UK.
Newsround Editor Ian Prince says: "Newsround has commissioned what
we think is the first survey carried out about Islam amongst British Muslim
children, and amongst children in general.
"We want to go behind the headlines of the past three years since
the events of September 11 and investigate what life is like for Muslims
here and abroad."
Headlines of the research are as follows:
Survey among Muslim children
49% of Muslim children think life for Muslim children in Britain has got
more difficult since September 11 and 34% less difficult.
92% of Muslim children think kids generally need to know more about Islam.
99% of Muslim children rated their religion as very or quite important.
85% of Muslim children correctly identified the Bible as the holy book
for Christians.
39% of Muslim children think Muslim people are shown in the news in a
bad way and 38% in a good way.
31% of Muslim children say they've been bullied and of those, 43% say
it was because of race / religion / colour / dress.
When asked to identify themselves, 67% of Muslim children identified themselves
primarily as Muslim, 18% as Asian, 10% as British.
(Source: NOP World)
Survey among all children
Children were asked: When you think of Muslim people, what's the first
thing you think of?
18% religion; 8% clothes; 7% headscarves; 7% foreign; 5% mosques; 5%
non-white people; 3% war / terror; 15% don't know.
60% of children say they do not have any Muslim friends, 39% say they
do.
47% of children correctly identified the Koran as the holy book for Muslims.
50% of children say they do not want to know more about Islam, 45% say
they do.
60% of children say they think life for Muslims in Britain has got more
difficult over the past few years, 25% don't think so.
65% say they think Muslim people in the news are shown in a bad way, 19%
in a good way.
47% of children generally see themselves as primarily English, 17% British
and 14% Christian.
(Source: BMRB)
Other highlights of Newsround Islam Week include:
Eleven-year-old Press Packer Danyal travels to Pakistan, the country of
his mother's birth.
He reflects on his first impressions of the country and meets many of
his relatives for the first time.
Danyal reports on how he feels Pakistan has influenced his heritage and
how he thinks life in this Muslim country differs from his experiences
in England.
Newsround presenter Laura Jones asks how Muslims in the
heart of the Middle East see themselves and others.
Laura visits Jordan, a country at the very centre of the region, to
talk to children about how they perceive the rest of the world and how
they feel the rest of the world - and in particular the West - sees them.
Three years ago, in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11,
Newsround reported on the response and experiences of the Muslim community
in America.
During Islam Week, presenter Lizo Mzimba catches up
with Muslim children in New York to find out how their lives have been
affected since then.
Islam Week explores the many and varied Muslim communities across the
UK.
One of the reports comes from 12-year-old Press Packer Aisha, from her
home in the Outer Hebrides, off the north-west coast of Scotland.
Aisha's family are the only Muslim family in her village, Tarbert, and
she reports on the prospect that the island's small but long-established
Muslim community may die out over the next few years.
Earlier this year, Muslim leaders in the UK called for more all-Muslim
schools to better cater for Muslim children's educational and religious
needs.
Nationally, there are currently approximately 100 such schools and presenter
Ellie Crisell visits one of the five state-funded Muslim
schools in north London.
She asks children how school life differs in a Muslim school and why
they prefer being there to being in a mixed school.
Lizo Mzimba explores the growing phenomenon of Islamic hip hop. He meets
artists on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as their fans, who believe
that hip hop could be a powerful way of communicating Islam's message.
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