Teacher sentenced over the name of a teddy bear....

i think people are overly sensitive.

I think it's pretty sad that a teddy bear can cause this kind of uproar.  Or the name of a teddy bear.

I'm not surprised.

What makes it hard for me to sympathize with cultures such as the one in the story is that we have freedom of speech, they do not.

She should have found a job here in the US. 

To play Devil's advocate, how do you accept a teaching position in such a frequently-fanatical country without first educating yourself on the many possible jail-able cultural offenses? Especially after the cartooning fervor I would hope that foreigners would have more sense than to use the name "Mohammed" without very careful consideration. It's like going to an airport and talking casually about bombs. Maybe no harm was meant, but one ought to have better sense.

I'm glad the woman wasn't sentenced to 40 lashes, and I hope her jail time isn't too painful. Best wishes to her.

I think in some frequently-fanatical countries, just being a woman and breathing could be a jailable offense.  My understanding from an earlier news  report was that she didn't actually name the bear herself.  She let the class vote and they opted to name the bear after a classmate. I don't see that as any different than the Hispanic community naming boys Jesus. If the name is all that "sacred and special" people shouldn't be allowed to give it to their kids.

Joyce

 I've got to line up with Cita on this one -- as a former teacher I can telll you that you don't let kids DO what they WANT to do most of the time.  It's like asking a 2 year old "Do you want to ..." (anything YOU want them to -- like go to bed, get off the swing, etc.).  You're gonna get a 'no' that way.

As a teacher in ANY era, you don't let kids name something inappropriate.  that includes Mohammed, Moses, or Jesus.  I don't care WHAT school you're teaching in -- that's offensive.  You go with "cuddles" or "Brownie".  And you use it as a teaching lesson while you do it and say "Well you know ... Ahmed's Dad's name is Mohammed and altho he might think it was nice that you thought highly of him, I think he might be a bit upset that his name was used for something frivolous -- so let's do like we talked the other day and avoid something that *might* be offensive, even though our reasons might be ok. 

What are  his BEST features?  His eyes?  His ears?  ..."

She used appalling judgment in a country that she has to know is completely anal about maleness.  It was STUPID.  I'm honestly not surprised.  It's a country where you CAN get in trouble just for breathing if you are a woman, so gee whiz, take the high road and TELL the class we'll name him Sinbad or something!"

Yes, people are too sensitive and if she did it here in the States I would have expected her to be more sensible than that as well!! 

I agree in the fact that she should have thought a little more about where she was, and how that region is about religion and it's leaders... common sense imo.

 I'm happy she didn't get the harsher sentence, but I think she should consider her deportation a blessing (can you imagine if she committed another offense? *horror*) But the thing that gets me is the fact that the children named the teddy bear... not her. I understand she was in charge, but I think it's a little over-the-top to punish the messenger.
 

I saw this on the news this morning. It is very silly. The lady stated that the children chose the name of the bear. I would think they would be happy that the children think enough of the name to choose it.

 Stories like this make me glad that I and my DH decided not to go over there for a job years ago. DH could have made a ton of money, but we were afraid they would hang me. They probably would have.

 Years ago I visted a middle eastern country, we were told to be careful and to wear certain type clothing and to not have anything offensive. I was 19 at the time and had a cosmopolitian magazine to read on the plane and was shocked at the outrage displayed by the officials over the magazine (this was years ago and it was not that "racy" back then). They ripped pages out and yelled and screamed and I was sure I was going to be arrested. What I saw while in that country has kept me from ever having any desire to ever return.

This is just another example of how extreme these countries are, and how little most of the western world really knows....pay attention, people over there get killed for saying the wrong thing about a religious figure....anyone supporting that type of government think long and hard ....

 I also think she should have been more savvy about the consequences. As we've heard it over here, there was no child with that name, but she gave the children the choice of what to name him and then tried to shrug off the responsibility by saying it was the childrens' idea. Well, they're very small and it's a teacher's job to take responsibility for them and tell them if it's inappropriate in that culture to name a teddy bear after a holy profit.

 I hate that this kind of thing can happen to people at all, but you've got to look after yourself in these places, and she didn't really do that.
 

calliecritturs

As a teacher in ANY era, you don't let kids name something inappropriate.  that includes Mohammed, Moses, or Jesus.  I don't care WHAT school you're teaching in -- that's offensive.  

People name their kids Mohammed all the time.  James Harriet had a story about a kitten named Moses and you didn't see people doing back flips and sentencing him to prison over it.  I've met horses and dogs named Noah.  Many names have references to Christ in them (Christian, Christopher, Christina, Christian, etc), and as a Christian I would certainly not be offended if someone named a pet or stuffed animal one of those names.  There is a Spanish named spelled like Jesus but pronounced differently (in high school I was in class with a kid who had this name, and whenever we had a substitute we had a bit of a laugh when they asked where Jesus was sitting).

Actually, it appears from this article that most Muslims, whether they thought it was OK to name a toy Mohammad or not, believed this was a gross overreaction by the government:     http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7115821.stm

Yeah,,,the whole thing is just plain stupid.  Stupid of that teacher to let this happen in a country where they have this attitude...and I'm sure she did know that.  It is true,,,she is the adult and has to make the final decision...possibly explaining to the class why they must not use this name.

On the other hand...I am happy to not live in a country that would object to naming the teddy bear Mohammed.

 I don't see that as any different than the Hispanic community naming boys Jesus.

I agree that I don't see any difference...but quite honestly...for some reason this does offend me. I don't know why,,I guess I'm wrong to feel this way...but I do.