Pupils 'act out' terror attack in Scottish school

A teacher has described pupils 'acting out' the latest London terror attack during a debate on how to tackle Islamophobia in Scotland's schools.

Islamophobia increases after terror attacks, teachers say, PICTURE: Adrian Denis

Delegates at the Educational Institute for Scotland’s 171st annual general meeting in Perth today heard how pupils pinned another pupil to a wall and then pretended to slash his throat with a knife.

Teachers voted unanimously to update the union’s Islamophobia advice and called on the Scottish Government to finance the provision of anti-Islamophobia materials and the time to teach such classes, following the rise in such abuse following the terrorist incidents in London and Manchester.

Another teacher Samreen Shah, a teacher in a Glasgow secondary school, speaking on a second motion on racism and Islamophobia, described the “backlash” people in ethnic communities experience after terrorist incidents.

“Every time there’s a terror attack “brown” people get the blame. I’m a Scottish Muslim. You’re terrified after attacks? So am I. But I have the added fear of the backlash and retaliation.

“I’ve asked my brothers to shave off their beards. They don’t have them for religious reasons, but as a fashion statement.”