My little nephew is scared of Muslims at the airport?

Question

Is there any way to calm a kid down and reassure him not all Muslims blow planes up? My sister said he freaked out just going to pick up a friend because he saw some women dressed in their Muslim wear. Our family reunion is next month, and he has to fly to get there. What can we do to help him? He is 7.

Athee,

I feel you on that. I am wary of EXTREME Islam, myself. But, I rationally realize that not every one of them blow planes up. However, my nephew pointed out when we told him of the security in the airports, "Well, how do you explain what happened on 9-11?"

He's too smart to fool.

Answer 1

my son feels the same and we fly on wednesday - he is 14 !!!
he said if there is a muslim on the plane he wont go..
tbh.. can't say i blame him!

all we can do is to tell them that it is highly unlikely and with the level of alert so high all the security is so tough no bomb could get onto the plane.

Answer 2

As a muslim woman I would first like to say that whoever posted the scary vs. not scary pics, that was pretty funny. HOnestly, even some muslim children may be afraid of women in a full veil/burka. What do you do, explain to your nephew/son.child that its just a regular women under there with some fabric over her face. Tell your sister to explain to her son that the veil/burka is just fabric, just another piece of clothing. Have her play a game with him, this is mommy with my regular clothes on, then take a sheet or somthing and wrap it around her head , body and face leaving just the eyes or whatever open, 'and now this is mommy all wrapped up", same mommy, nothing to be afraid of.
What is so ridiculous is that even adults forget that the clothes dont actually make the person. Anyone can put on a burka, wrap some cloth on their heads or whatever, that really doesn't tell you much at all about wo the person is and what they are about. It may be an indicator, yes, but it does not neccessarily tell you anything concrete about the person. Explain this to the boy. Like other people said, the kid is only 7, he learned to fear people based on looks by his parents, or if he did not learn it from parents or family directly, they have certainly reinforced it. If they know any muslim women, ask one to come over and play the little dress up game with him. He is only 7 so a muslim woman would not have a problem taking off her hijab to show him her hair, and that she has a regular head, not horns or anything under her hijab. Of course, she would not do this if the father were there because we have to cover around all non-related men.
Anyway, my two cents.
Peace

Answer 3

I am a Muslim, and I wear a full face cover. I am also a "Westerner" (not of arabic origin). I do understand your newphew fears. So many times I myself felt uncomfortable - knowing that people might be afraid of us, me because of the terrorist acts and distorted image of islam. I do believe that it would be v. difficult for a Muslim women dressing accordingly to islamic rules to blow up a plane nowadays ;-) - we just dragg the most attention and undergo detailed security checks at the airports. I would rather suppose that a person with bad intentions would be trying to look like 'avarage' non-Muslim... I do believe that telling your newphew about check ups, or maybe taking him earlier to the airport and letting him talk to security guards - might be of great help, apart from - what other people stated here - helping him to meet and talk to some muslims (in the local mosque for example).

I hope they will have a save travell and your family reunion will be joyfull.

Answer 4

First you have to start at home. Tell him that muslims aren't aliens, they are humans just like him and his family, just who maybe dress in slightly different clothes to him. Hundreds of thousands of muslims fly every day around the world. THey don't blow up planes - they would be victims along with everyone else - as they were on 9/11 and 7/7
If you know any muslims to introduce to him to show that they are normal and get rid of this phobia that might help. Some mosques are really open to visitors and opening up to strangersso that they can be understood. There is a mosque in my town that has open days sometimes and you can go in and meet people and try food. Or try and get him to watch that canadian show - 'Little mosque on the prairie'.

Answer 5

Well first of all, since he is 7 years old and 9/11 happened almost 6 years ago, it has been taught to him. He was a year old when it happened! So apparently someone, somewhere has told him to be afraid. And now they want to undo it? Maybe he learned it at school? Regardless of who, what, when, or how, he needs to be introduced to Muslims. I don't know where he is from, but he needs to be shown that not all people from any walk of life are bad. It might also help if he watches planes come in on landings and see that Muslims (hopefully) were on the flight and the plane landed safely. This is a tough one because of his age and what he has already been taught. Teachings can sometimes never be undone...... Prejudices and Bigots are a perfect example.

Answer 6

I am more concerned with the fact that he is only 7 and is terrified of Muslims. This is not an innate fear, but a learned one. I think his mother should limit his exposure to the news, for one thing. All you see on there is Muslims blowing up other people, and it is an unfair bias. It is designed to terrify, (both the bombings and the incessant reporting of them).. and it works.

As others have said, she needs to tell him, in no uncertain terms, that not all Muslims are like this. She also can point out the security measures taken at airports.

Answer 7

Stop letting him watch the news and stop talking about how bad all Muslims are in front of him. Stop using generalities to describe (and disparage) people. He leaned it somewhere - children aren't born with an inherent fear of "Muslim wear" as you called it.

I am a Christian, and teaching this child fear leads to "learned" hatred. He is 7 - why is Muslim linked to fear in his limited vocabulary? I am appalled that some adult has stricken fear into this child's heart with their venom or at the very least their inattention to what he is hearing.

You can make a good start by explaining to him that how a person dresses does not reflect their heart - and say it in "7-year-old" language - perhaps you could introduce him to a Muslim that you know - if that's not possible you will need to keep reassuring him and watch the news AFTER he's in bed.

Answer 8

The best thing to do, I think would be to get a nice big picture book/s and show him about the Islam way of life.
Explain to him *why* they wear the dressed code that they do and etc.
Get him used to seeing the things of their culture and religion.
And if possible, let him interact with some Muslims, of all types of ages.

Answer 9

Tell him that just because some Muslims choose to blow up planes, it doesn't mean that all Muslims have bad intentions. Make sure to tell him the difference between Islamists and Muslims: Islamists are dedicated to destroying other religions in the name of their god while Muslims, which is the majority of the population, want to live in peace with other people, no matter what their faith is.

Answer 10

This kid needs reassurance from mum and dad that muslims are not to be feared, and under the burka is a real human. Maybe he can meet someone friendly who can explain why they wear a veil, and let him handle it, and watch her put it on, so he can identify with the human underneath.

Answer 11

Wow, this is a rough one. I'm assuming he picked up this prejudice from TV and not from the family.

Talk to him and tell him, as you said, that most Muslims are not out to blow up planes. Tell him that white people and others, like Ted Kozinsky, commit terrorist acts, too. Find a movie that portrays Arabs or Muslims in a positive or friendly manner. (Aladdin? The Mecca scenes from Malcolm X might help.) You might ask your local Islamic center or mosque for help with this one. You might also ask a therapist, child psychologist, or clergyperson for advice.

Pray for him, too!

You might consider bringing a Muslim to the house to visit him, with you present, and talk to the family about non-violent Islam.