And here's just one of the many arguments against allowing fully covered faces, not to mention bodies, being allowed in public places where identification is normally required.

This article sounds like the child was taken from a public school... by someone in a hajib. Wow, what a neat way to get a gun into a school without being searched or going through an alarm system.

The biggest part of the story is that a masked person took a child and the school didnt question that, yes it was a Niqab but isnt that just a covering to hide that persons identity? Religious rights in this case almost killed a small girl.

Yeah, and what kind of identification would you have for someone wearing full garb from head to toe? If anyone would have asked for her to remove it for proper ID they would have been slapped with some ACLU lawsuit for religious discrimination. It's difficult to blame the school given the circumstances of this case. Guess the only way they could identify a person whom you cannot identify visually is to maybe have a safe password that would identify that person as the mother.

Retired Vet, I understand where you are coming from but the school CAN make a visual confirmation rule in order to protect the children. If the mother doesn't like this rule, she can send her child to a different school. The kid safety needs to paramount, even to the point of upsetting the precious ACLU. I just wish the administration of that school would create a rule stating that visual confirmation WILL BE required to pull a student from school during class hours.

By the way, passwords must be remembered by both parties and if that password is written down at the school...it is subject to being stolen and rendered useless. Better the visual confirmation. (IMHO)

I don't feel that proving ID is a religious RIGHT! We ALL have to be able to provide identification when safety should come first.

a Hijab is a head scarf. Its the equivalent of wearing a coat with a hood (something that wouldnt be uncommon given the time of year.

What youre thinking of is a burka which should not be allowed. If their religion says that they need to cover their head for modesty, that's fine, but no where does it say in Islam that they need to be covered from head to foot....in which case I agree it should not be allowed. Its less about the baseless idea that people wearing burkas are fanatical and possibly dangerous, and more the fact that people (and probably not Muslim) would take advantage of the garb and do bad things. Im sure the cops would stop me if I was wearing a ski mask or wearing my motorcycle helmet walking down the street.

The school is definitely at fault in this case. A Muslim woman that covers her face is doing so to be modest in front of men that aren't relatives. How hard is it to take her aside and have one of the secretaries take a look at who she is?...but then again, its pretty hard to remember which face goes with which child...perhaps have the parent answer a security question on the childs file like they do when you want to update your cellphone or bank account...this is a bad situation all around

This has to do with the safety of a child. The ACLU can sue me. She doesn't need to take the Hajib off, but she would need to uncover her face and hands. There is NOTHING religious about varifying her face.

I understand, agree and would (and do) support what you say. Just pointing out the times we are living in where political correctness trumps almost any other type of logic. Just very glad that the little girl was found. The condition in which she was found, however, makes it very difficult to believe that she was not hurt in some way. Poor little one.

I agree..this is bullcrap.I'm relieved this poor little girl is ok physically for now but if i was her mother i would take this school to court and take them for everything i could and change schools.What kind of personnel at any school lets a person covered up pick up any child with no ID????? Take the dam face shields off, all the coverings off the face and show 2 pieces of picture ID and make sure the child knows them..it's just that simple. Whoever signed this child out needs to lose their job IMMEDIATELY!

Religious rights in this case almost killed a small girl.

Wearing niqab, or burqa, doesn't have anything to do with religion. This is purely cultural practice, not religious.

@Rose Colored Glasses

Thank you for the clarification. My bad.

We don't even know yet who this person is. For all we know, the head garment was not worn for religious reasons at all and the person underneath is not a Muslim.

I thought schools were way past this by now. Properly identifying someone picking up a child from school isn't something I've thought I had to question when it came to any school's policy. I dated a guy 20 years ago that was divorced and was authorized to pick up his son, but his ex still had to tell the school ahead of time when he would be picking up his son or they would not release him, and it was the same for both the grandmothers as well.

My heart breaks for that little girl and her mother. A five year old found in only a T shirt, and it's pretty cold up there, makes me want to cry to think about what she's gone through. I've given up driving myself crazy trying to understand how and why people do the things they do to other people. I hope they catch the person/people who did this and get them behind bars for a very long time. I am so glad she is OK and I hope they are able to get the help they need to heal from this awful nightmare. Sending hugs and kisses her way.

Apparently the child didn't say anything either.

Rosecolored glasses - very nice post well thought out. I would add only one thing the school should have a list of those authorized by the parents to take the child out of the school, when someone visually identifies the person taking the kid the verification should be against a photo id. Thus if I went to remove my niece from school (assuming I was authorized) and I was wearing a burka, the secretary or other female school employee could as Rosecolored said take me aside and look at my face and comare it to my photo ID - we all should have them.

I also like the idea of a safety word - not only from the point of view of identification verification but (I read to many thrillers) also in case that the person taking the kid is under duress.

Photo id and a password. Even if the id was stolen, the perpetrator would no doubt not have the password. The school was totally negligent here. This is completely their fault and they are lucky that this story didn't have more disastrous results.

Heavens, even going deeper, our schools keep a list of authorized people. My wife and myself are the only ones that can check our kids out of school. This was a serious lack of security in this school.

Rose: ". . . she's dressed in traditional over-garment and Niqab," said Abdur-Rashid. "She has her face covered and only her eyes showing."

She was wearing the whole sh-bang.

Uh hello... You guys are arguing guns, photo ID, religious/cultural rights?? How about the lady said she is the mother and her name is "TIFFANY", that is not the mother's name! Did the school not have the mother's full name, DOB and other identifying info on file?? This info should be cross-checked whenever an adult signs a child out of school, without fail.

From the info the story provides, it would seem the school was negligent here. Glad the little girl was found and is ok.

The school has procedures in place to prevent children from leaving with unknown persons. The abductor violated those procedures and the teacher was complicit, instead of challenging the unknown woman. Adults coming into the school are required to go to the office and provide ID. The child is then brought to the office, but in this case the criminal signed an illegible name, was not ordered to produce id, left the office and went directly to the classroom and was allowed to take the child. The teacher should have refused and called the office for help. Too many safety procedures were ignored to be believed. This could have been so much worse...

cjsks, after your "uh hello" opening, you said the same thing most others above said. Did you have something new to add?

NB820, from what you just wrote, are you saying that as being your theory of events? Or are those facts? because if they are facts, and "Tiffany" asked for the child by name, then she clearly knows the family and won't be too difficult to track.

When my son started school this year, I had to fill out paperwork about who was allowed to pick him up from school. They require a photo ID for one of those people to pick him up (and would even require it for me unless I was ID'd by sight by his teacher). A claim to need your face covered should not trump proper identification, whether when getting the ID or using it.

Glad the little girl is at least somewhat OK, and hope she wasn't harmed physically beyond the possible hypothermia.

Whoever took this child was very specific and asked for her by name. Tell me again that this was a perfect stranger. Sounds to me like a custody dispute dispute the religious garb.

You guys are being insensitive to their religious rights.. And I agree a thousand percent. Show ID and 'unmask' if you have a problem with that... home school them then.

Bring the child to the office. Is this your mother? A yes or no is enough.

How very lucky the child is alive. I hope she recovers and puts this behind her.

On to more constructive criticism, when I sign out one of my grandkids from school, they require my ID. Beyond that, the kids identify me. I even bring a note from their parents. That's all that's really needed. I have no objection at all, and the staff appreciate my attention to detail. They know who I am, I've been coming to the school since the oldest (18) was in kindergarten, but I still follow through. It's important to me to keep them safe, and if this is what it takes, so be it. Time spent on ID is less than 30 seconds, and well worth every moment. ALL schools should do the same. Why did the school in this article fail so miserably? Who needs a weapon to harm or kidnap a child? This failure to protect is inexcusable. Perhaps they will learn from their mistakes and prevent such a thing from happening again.

Like I said, my 30 seconds of time gives me a great deal of peace of mind.

One simple question to be asked. " is this your mother"? or do you know this person? It's not fail safe but if the person has no I.D it may help prevent this from happening in the future

What I want to know is, did this fake mom take the girl to

Breakfast At Tiffany's?

So they school just let's anyone come in and sign out a child?

How about this perspective? Most people can't easily recognize/identify people from races other than their own. Call it racist if you want, but it is true. Without training or a special need to focus on the "other" person they "all look the same". It has been proven from withioin almost every race, culture, etc.

Granted, the use of clothing compounds the problem of identifying another.

There is an easy way to combat the problem of someone picking up the "wrong" child. Anytime somebody neds to pick up a child it should be done through a SINGLE point/office. The person should be asked for positive ID, the child should be trained to know a "secret password" that only an authorized person would have if the regular person who gets the child is indisposed for some reason. The child should ask the person and refuse to go if that person does not know the password.

As for the "religious" violations pertaining to having on head scarves, hoodies, sunglasses, baseball caps, etc., the bank where I do business strictly forbids the wearing of them inside the bank - no exceptions. It isn't discrimination since they ban EVERYBODY wearing such garb from entering. Don't want to take it off so the security cameras can easily identify you - stay out. Go through the drive-up window or the ATM on the outside.

My old high school required ID's from ANYONE walking into the building! Much less pulling a child from class...what school just takes someone's word for it and gives a child to them?

This woman must've known the girl somehow, to have her name...

What's all this religious debate about, I thought we separated religion from state. This is a public school right?

Cant we all just be happy that she was found safe? Two stories late last year about girls being abducted and killed. Its nice to have a happier ending this time around.

I don't know about other schools, but some of ours asks for ID if they don't actually know who you are. Other of our schools will ask the child to verify that the person picking them up is who they say they are. Different ways of verifying the person picking them up, but there isn't a school in our town that will just let a child walk out on some adult's say-so. And they check the computer to see who is authorized while the child is going from the classroom to the office. I once asked a neighbor if she could pick up my kiddo for a dental appt. (I got stuck at work), but she wasn't listed and they wouldn't let her pick my kiddo up. Inconvenient? Yes. Did it make me feel better? Also yes. (And I added a few neighbors to the list, after that).

I find it funny most have jumped on the women's dress yet children are abducted and taken all the time by peoples who don't cover there face. That's the thing A lot of school abductions are done by FAMILY. In this case there might be strong reasons to suggest that. we have as a nation tighten security to the point we might as well send our children to prison. Bottom line the person or persons that took her are to blame. They knew or at the very least study the victim and her family.

yea, schools should have pictures...but what good is a picture of a person wearing a black robe with their face covered completely with slits for the eyes? If the muzlims want to live here..."when in Rome, do as the Romans do..." Full head coverings should be illegal...just as they are in France. Who would of thought we could learn something from the frogs...

It just makes so much sense to have some other form of identification, like an implant in the wrist. Many think that this is the "mark of the beast", yet a person could completely cover up, and still be identified by reading the implant.

Fascinating.

So, the little girl was found wearing only a t-shirt? What purpose the abduction? Some interfamilial spat?

Religious issue or not no one dressed in that attire or anything overly concealing should be allowed within a city block of a school let alone walk in the door, talk about a enabling system. keep an eye on those nuns as well. the security of our children supersedes attire. drop a couple of them in their tracks and this problem will go away, problem solved. next issue!

Obviously she was used to her mother dressing this way. And perhaps the school was as well. I don't think this is a public safety issue. What five year old do you know who wouldn't scream at being taken from school by someone dressed in this fashion? The situation was not out of the ordinary. People of this culture should dress the way they deem fit, but understand that anyone can be under that veil--it's a risk they take upon themselves.

Asking the niqab-wearing "mother" to show a photo ID doesn't violate anyone's religious principles, nor would it violate a religious doctrine to ask the supposed mother to unveil herself in the presence of another woman so that woman could validate her photo ID. The niqab, burqa and other garb is meant to be a shield against male eyes, not female, so there's no reason for any child's safety to be compromised to keep anyone's religious principles inviolate.

While photo IDs can be easily manufactured. the abductors didn't even put that much effort into it, since they didn't even try to get the mother's name right! Yet, in spite of that, the school just shrugged and released the child to any adult who asked for her, so tasking the staff to actually go so far to check a photo ID or verify a password is probably beyond them.

If memory serves, this is not the first abduction from this school - and given how lax things still are, it sure won't be the last.

To those saying it must be a family friend or custody dispute simply because the abductor knew the child's name, I disagree. In the end that may be the case, but it's pretty simple to find out a child's name. A yearbook, a photo in a local newspaper, attending the same church, scouts, etc. This person may not even follow that religion, just used the clothing to get the child. She may very well know the family from mutual involvement in any of a number of social activities but that doesn't make them close friends.

It's obvious the child thought it was her mother. Society forcing them to adapt to laws meant to protect them from themselves is wrong. They aren't going to start waltzing in to every school taking random children. If it becomes an issue where children of their culture are being taken, then they will call for rule changes themselves.

the school didn't say that they even asked for any identification or anything. That is the attires fault right...no still the schools because many have ways to address this very issue with out saying...... no to be in public you must be immodest ...... never mind that offices have females that could check with out trampling on her right to dress modestly first. I know this because my daughter is in school whose mother dresses very similar and the response is not to make her interact with the public by taking clothes off FYI. The person who ABDUCTED her knew her and still might have been able to sign her out. Who ever took her knew her or at least enough.

D Buck-2239568-Religious issue or not no one dressed in that attire or anything overly concealing should be allowed within a city block of a school let alone walk in the door, talk about a enabling system. keep an eye on those nuns as well.

Most nuns now wear normal clothes, some with a short habit (the head covering), which may be black but can be other colors too. This was the case at least as far back as the early 80's when I was in a Catholic grade school, and was taught by nuns.

How quick people are to relinquish their God given rights for the illusion of security. But hey, its not like we're proposing banning yamulkas or nun's habits, just those pesky hijabs and such. For all we know they might be trying to pass as Americans under there, and we can't have muslems doing that, can we? We like our boogiemen to be more forthcoming so we know who to point our accusatory fingers at in an instant...

(Well, except for that guy who posted above saying that he can't tell people from other races apart. You know how we brown folk all look alike. Seriously, dude?)

But better safe than sorry, so let's just strip them all naked then force them all to wear J Crew polos and khakis; then we know we can trust "those people" (and maybe looking the way they do they might be motivated to be "real Americans")

Seriously, though: asking for IDs at the door is fine. If "we" don't think we should ask people to leave their assault rifles at the door when visiting their kids at school to make us feel more safe an chaotic times, we certainly shouldn't ask all spooky brown folk to consent to a costume change to make you feel better about them being here. What's next: TSA scanners at the entrance to every playground?

TFNJ - you say that you and your wife are the only persons who can pick up your child from school.

You might want to have a backup - if you are both injured or killed in an accident (or just detained by a disaster that snarls traffic and makes the trip home from work take 12 hours) the school might be forced to place your child with CPS (temporary foster care) - even if a grandparent, aunt, neighbor, or other trusted adult is present. Without a pre-arrangement, the school is forced to wait for a court order (might vary from state to state.)

If we both die in a car crash, that's going to happen whether in school or not.

But either way, I was speaking in hind site. My kids are 17 and 16 now. While still kids, they are basically young adults.

As others have pointed out, it was her hair that was covered, not her face. I don't understand why she didn't have to show ID because whenever I pick up anyone from school, the school would pull out the card that has my name as an authorized person to pick up the child. I've been on several pick up list since I was 21 (for nieces and nephews). They said all she did was sign out the child. This has nothing to do with religious exception, this has to do with a stupid system in place. Showing ID is a part of the policy at schools here regardless of if they know you or not.

cantakenomore - do you REALLY want the government to decide what type of clothing you're permitted to wear? No thanks. (They'll pry my short-shorts from my cold, dead ass...)

I agree Mifo. No one takes away MY jean shorts... lol kidding

@ Rose Colored Glasses, post 1.6

Read much? The article clearly states the hijab was covering her (his ?) face with only the eyes showing. So how is that like a hoodie?

I had to fill out a "who is authorized to pick-up" for my dog at dog day camp. And, they check if it isn't me, who normally picks up the dog.

Sure seems like a school should do no less.

Rafal W is lying

Question:
Does Islam require women to cover themselves?

Summary Answer:
Yes. The reason is that a covering of cloth is supposed to keep the sexual appetites of passing men at bay when women travel outside the home. This can actually save a woman's life, since she is usually assumed to bear the responsibility of unlawful sexual encounters.

The Qur'an:
Quran (33:59) - "Tell thy wives and thy daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks close round them..."

Quran (24:31) - "And say to the believing women that they cast down their looks and guard their private parts and do not display their ornaments except what appears thereof, and let them wear their head-coverings over their bosoms, and not display their ornaments except to their husbands or their fathers, or the fathers of their husbands, or their sons, or the sons of their husbands, or their brothers, or their brothers' sons, or their sisters' sons, or their women, or those whom their right hands possess, or the male servants not having need (of women), or the children who have not attained knowledge of what is hidden of women; and let them not strike their feet so that what they hide of their ornaments may be known." The woman is not only supposed to cover herself, except with relatives, but to look down, so as to avoid making eye-contact with men.

Qur'an (33:55) - "It shall be no crime in them as to their fathers, or their sons, or their brothers, or their brothers' sons, or their sisters' sons, or their woman, or the slaves which their right hands possess, if they speak to them unveiled" A woman is only allowed to present herself unveiled to family and slaves.

From the Hadith:

Bukhari (6:321) - Muhammad is asked whether it is right for a young woman to leave her house without a veil. He replies, "She should cover herself with the veil of her companion."

Bukhari (60:282) - After Muhammad issued the command (Qur'an 24:31) for women to cover themselves, the women responded by tearing up sheets to cover their faces.

Abu Dawud (32:4092) - The Apostle of Allah... said: "O Asma', when a woman reaches the age of menstruation, it does not suit her that she displays her parts of body except this and this, and he pointed to her face and hands" This was according to Aisha.

Abu Dawud (2:641) - The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: Allah does not accept the prayer of a woman who has reached puberty unless she wears a veil.

Bukhari (52:250) - [The Prophet said] "It is not permissible for a man to be alone with a woman, and no lady should travel except with a Muhram (i.e. her husband or a person whom she cannot marry in any case for ever; e.g. her father, brother, etc.)." - Neither is a woman allowed to travel by herself.

Additional Notes:

Islamic law (Sharia) requires women to cover themselves. The practical application in modern Muslim countries varies with a combination of individual taste and social expectation. The Taliban actually require full burqas (covering everything including a mesh for the eyes), while the secular governments of Turkey and Tunisia have actually banned headscarves in public buildings (up until recently).

The head covering is interpreted as a symbol of male domination by most critics and by many Muslim women who fight for the right to dress as they please. In December of 2007, a father in Canada beat his 16-year-old daughter to death for refusing to wear the hijab (headscarf).

Some insist that the veil is not mandated by the religion, although they do not have anything within the sacred texts to counter the passages in which Muhammad instructed its use. In fact, verse 24:60 says that the veil is only optional for unmarried women who are too old to have children, and even then the freedom to uncover the head is discouraged. CAIR's Jamal Badawi, often held up as a moderate Muslim scholar, insists that the hijab is "a command of Allah to Muslim women" and should be "the duty of the state" to enforce it.

Some women do wear the hijab by choice, but it is impossible to say what percentage, since the pressure to cover ones head can be either subtle or pronounced. In 2011, an imam at a supposedly moderate mosque in Sammamish, Washington claimed that Muslim wives wear the hijab because they want to, but then stated that they may be "punished" if they refuse. In Pakistan, uncovered women are routinely attacked with acid. In Iran, Basij fundamentalists have raped and killed dress code violators.

Clerics, such as Sheik Taj Din al-Hilali, have said that unveiled victims of public rape invited their attackers: "If I came across a rape crime – kidnap and violation of honour – I would discipline the man and order that the woman be arrested and jailed for life.' Why would you do this, Rafihi? He says because if she had not left the meat uncovered, the cat wouldn't have snatched it... If you take uncovered meat and put it on the street, on the pavement, in a garden, in a park or in the backyard, without a cover and the cats eat it, is it the fault of the cat or the uncovered meat? The uncovered meat is the problem."

In keeping with this theme, Muslim rapists in the West have been known to credit their motivation to the victim's choice of dress (one such example being from Australia in 2011). It is somewhat obvious that many women rely on the veil for for protection against unwanted male attention. Even non-Muslim residents and Western visitors to the Islamic world often find it necessary to cover themselves so as to avoid the harassment of Muslim men on the street.

Veils and burqas are becoming more common in Muslim countries with the resurgence of Islamic fundamentalism. In the West, they are gradually becoming a chic statement of political protest or a symbol of distinction.

"When in Rome..." I'm sick of hearing about somebody's CULTURE. Step up to the plate or go back where you came from! (and take your culture with you!)

strange, something is behind this, of a religious origin.

Well thank God she's safe, that's the most important thing, then capturing the criminal.

Is it just me or is everyone else sick and tired of religious rights bs. Stores can't use Merry Christmas in advertising, towns must remove nativity scenes from courthouse lawns, but yet, people can stroll around covered from head to foot with rags on their bodies. What really irks me is "racial profiling" crap. Seriously? In the name of safety, some peoples toes get trampled, well that's just too bad. If you don't like it, go live somewhere else, Oh, that's right, you're here because of this free for all society. Our country is turning into a third world cesspool.

Socpage ..........said the indians to the mayflower refugees is that what really scares you that karma is going to come back .... american culture .... what is that exactly? is it the same on the east coast as on the west ?

and delainey from courthouse lawns ......not your own lawn geesh. yeah profiling because people who steal children are mostly dark and different .....makes sense

CIEW....

Ciew....chevy chase,

"(Well, except for that guy who posted above saying that he can't tell people from other races apart. You know how we brown folk all look alike. Seriously, dude?)."

He/she did not say that all brown people looked alike. He/she said that it is more difficult to identify others across race. I included article and abstract information below. Here is the last line of the abstract.

"Both Black and White subjects exhibited own-race bias in 79%0 of the samples reviewed."

There are many studies that support this notion.

Cross-Racial Identification

1. Robert K. Bothwell
   1. University of Texas at El Paso

1. John C. Brigham
   1. Florida State University

1. Roy S. Malpass
   1. State University of New York at Plattsburgh

Abstract

This article reviews the research on differential recognition for own-versus other-race faces. A meta-analysis of 14 samples revealed that the magnitude of the own-race bias is similar for both Black and White subjects, accounting for about 10o of the variance in recognition accuracy. There is a considerable consistency across studies, indicating that memory for own-race faces is superior to memory for other-race faces. Both Black and White subjects exhibited own-race bias in 79%0 of the samples reviewed.

I hope someone with an assault rifle corners this abducter before the cops find him (her).

#1 Schools should have pictures on file of anybody authorized to pick up a child.

They should require identification before releasing any child, at the very least.

Very easy solution. Regardless of the identification of the person picking up the child, as it could be fake.

ASK THE CHILD IF THEY KNOW THE PERSON. It's not going to offend anyone; hey little Suzy do you know this person?

How hard would it be to institute a mandate that any administrator or teacher must ASK THE CHILD.

Let's start an ASK THE CHILD petition. It's free. Just ask the child. If the child says NO, then we have a problem.

Press 2 for English, Burka Fridays, I am tired of having to adjust to outsiders in MY @!$%#ING COUNTRY!

#1.64 Press 2 for English, Burka Fridays, I am tired of having to adjust to outsiders

And Jesus said, "Love your neighbor as yourself." Fallin' a little short, there, skidoo. . .

Or here's an idea, instead of banning certain clothing and showing how religiously intolerant many of you are, maybe the school could have verified the name of the child's mother, which wasn't Tiffany, before letting "Tiffany" who claimed to be the girl's mother, take her to breakfast. This went beyond even asking for id. The person didn't even give the right name to begin with and the school still let her take the child.

@Emily @ Confussed

I wasn't referring to the article, I was replying to a comment. If you read my whole comment you would see that I spoke about wearing a full burka that would cover a face not a hijab....

@ pulsar: This is America We aren't abiding to and don't enforce muslim's religious laws. Look up what the Australian Prime Minister had to say about adapting to Australia to Muslim population, adapt or exercise your right to leave the country. I wish our country had the guts to tell them the same thing. That's simple enough. I think that if everybody would toughen up, grow a thick skin about their beliefs and we can stop worrying about being so PC when it comes to people's feelings. People need to grow a set and accept that life isn't always peaches. And where was this woman's escort? Why was she alone at a school? Those laws are just enforced when they want to enforce them, so, why should the rest of us take it seriously?

Latifah Abdur-Rashid? I have all the info I need.

Mine does.

In this case, how are you to distinguish one person in black garb from another?

OMG I was thinking the same thing. Most schools require ID to take a child out. Remind me not to send my kids to schools in that area. Someone with their face completely covered can just come in and randomly check out a child?

I have to question what the purpose was, since the child was released.

retired Vet, I think the ID would resolve the question you have. I had to pick up my kid one day early, and was required to show my ID. Didn't mind at all.

Photo i.d. and a password would solve the issue. Even if the i.d. was stolen, it's unlikely the thief would have the password or even know there was a child that could be picked up.

Total negligence on the part of the school. They are lucky the results were not even more disastrous.

Forget the photo or the covered face; let's start with basic ID. Apparently, this woman would've had NO identification stating she was who she said she was.

And the last time I had to get into our local highschool building, someone had to come open the door for me from inside. And I had to go directly to the office, with escort (granted, the escort was some junior, probably on punishment duty, but still, escort is escort).

This school needs to start all over with it's security system. Seems like it pretty much sucks right now.

Fine example of a secure setting for children.

Have any of you other then service members ever been to the ME its a earrie feeling when you walk into a area full of women wearing the garb all you see is their eyes not even that in places like Afghanistan, its spooky when someone stares at you and you can't see who they are, kind of like being in the same room with the grim reaper, who in their right mind would hand a child over to such a thing, besides these women are not usually allowed out without a male family member to escort them, something should have sounded the alarm! don't ya think?. I'm not fond of the idea that we allow these people to colonise our country in the first place. let alone give them special preferential treatment because of their customs. if you don't want to show your face then stay at home and hide in the dark like some hideous creature. their customs are a insult to everyone that grew up normal, think about it you are so pathetic to them that you can not lay eyes upon them how sick can it get.

This just happened to my family in Alabama. School allowed an unknown person to sign child out. Their excuse is that the child called the person to pick her up. The child had gotten into trouble at school.

was the person face covered or uncovered,who signed the child out?

I'm starting a petition to mandate a new:

JUST ASK THE CHILD law. If a child doesn't know the person they might think their parent sent them, but if you bring the child to the side and ASK THE CHILD if they know the person and they say NO; we have a problem.

Who cares what she/he was wearing or even that they didn't require id? She said her name was Tiffany and she was the child's mother when Tiffany is nothing near the mother's name. How incompetent does a school need to be. The person didn't claim to be the mother (ie use the mother's name). How about a basic name check even before releasing the child?

Palm prints, and or, Eye retina scans identification for everyone. This will help with voter ID fraud and everything.

Guess what? This will never happen in the USA. It is obvious that too many of the power brokers in this society wants a broken haphazard system which is thus bounded for "political quarrel" and deceit.

I don't know... does the girl's MOTHER usually wear a face covering? That might account for the school's acceptance of this person's credibility. Not that it justifies it.... Apparently the little girl's behavior when greeted by the stranger at the school did not tip off the staff?

I agree with you on those points shakalac.

Though the lady said her name was Tiffany and that she needed to take her daughter to breakfast but the mom has a different name - you'd think the school would at least pull up the record...and at most schools, don't they usually have a list of "approved" people that can pick up a child?

Hopefully, the little girl is unharmed, though it's almost difficult to believe being that she was found wearing only a t-shirt.

In some regions, family reserves the right to "castrate" young women. Muslim cultures allow this, by removing the sexual points, a woman would be less likely to mess around on their husbands. This is usually done shortly before puberty, but it is known to happen younger. If this is what happened, I would look at the child's relatives.

Why she was left nearly nude, that's anyone's guess. Unless she is from a mixed family, again her relatives might have been sending a message. I would be interested to hear what developes from this.

What's frightening about this story is that the school couldn't even check the name of the girl's mother before releasing her to her mother, "Tiffany".

Unfortunately you may be correct. I just pray that she can move forward wholly from this ordeal.

As far as I know, the covering of the body and the hair are the only requirements, even by Sharia requirements. Some cultures take it a step further, but uncovering the face usually follows tribal requirements.

I have no problem with them being covered, but if I have to remove sunglasses and hats/hoodies at the bank, then you have to remove your covering to pickup your child.

the thing is all they have to do is show a female ..... not that hard and no rights violated..... in this case the school DIDN"T ask for ID.

Right - produce a photo ID. If someone wishes to keep their face covered, the school should invest in a retinal scanner, and charge a fee to those who wish to use that in lieu of showing the face privately to a female staff member. The fee should recover the purchase cost of equipment, training cost for operators, labor cost to operate it, and upkeep on the equipment and database of users - maybe even electrical power cost of the machine and computer. Depending on the number of users, maybe $200 per ID would cover it. Cash, in advance - held on account like a postage meter.

considering the ever plummeting test scores and ranking in education compared to other countries...... maybe just maybe we should be spending money on why we send them to school in the first place ....... a education unless i missed the memo where we want a poor education for them. why a retina scanner?

First the school actual has to ask for the ID .......... SEE that's the point that seems to not be filtering in. expensive retina machines ....... women can show other women i am not sure why that fact does not seem to sink in. There was no refusal of ID since the SCHOOL DID NOT ASK FOR ID

Even if this person was wearing standard American attire, it sounds as if they would have let her take the girl. If they didn't request photo i.d., check the files for authorized people allowed to pick up the little girl, and didn't require a password or other failsafe, what makes anyone think they wouldn't just hand her over to someone in regular clothes?

School security should be standard practice in all schools and has been for years in all of the schools I've ever dealt with. This is a school failure and has nothing to do with the person's attire. The school was negligent.

School's fault or not there is no need for anyone to be hiding their face in public.

Even if this mother, or other parents at the school, sometimes appear with faces covered, this woman should have set off alarms big time. She had only eyes showing, and was wearing gloves. It should be casual to the most obvious observer that the getup was designed to hide identity, including fingerprints.

The school is probably following a better security plan now - show photo ID, check ID with authorized list for that child, and show face (if necessary, privately to a female staff person.)

I'm glad that there are still people, in this case the unidentiified man, who will check out a scream or some other "something's not right" cue.

Oh my God, I hadn't thought about that. Until now. Thanks (just being sarcastic). Seriously, I hope they haven't done something like that, the article doesn't say anything about her being injured, but with no pants? And in this freezing-cold weather?

I was thinking more along the lines of child porn, but either possibility is too horrible to consider.

At least she is alive, and Praise Allah for that! Or, Thank God, or whatever.

.

If she was "signed out" what was the teacher going to report? The school didn't report her missing because for all intents and purposes the school believed she was with her mother. There has to be something in the religion that will allow another woman to look upon each other. Some Muslim cleric needs to come up with a procedure that would allow schools to positively identify women who wear a veil in order to avoid this type of thing from happening.

I'm sure the office sent someone to get this little girl from her classroom. I think the staff in the office is to blame here. This girl is so lucky to be alive.

The girl probably comes from a Muslim family or she would not have walked out the door with the woman, and the school would not have allowed her to go with someone in Muslim garb.

The real problem here is the "do not upset" approach this country has adopted toward Muslims that prevented the school from even questioning the woman's identity in the slightest. Good grief, it could have been a man under all those yards of cloth with a note in his hand claiming he didn't speak English and they wouldn't have questioned it as long as the child didn't pitch a fit about leaving with him.

And again, here we have another security threat to schools in regard to guns... if a person dressed as a Muslim woman wants to bring a gun into a school or other public place, are security people going to be allowed to pat them down without being sued or will they just nod them on in as a gesture to PC?

"What gets me is why her teacher didn't report the girl missing".

Oh no, that's for the blonde-haired, blue-eyed ones. This one is just some kid who's had God-knows-what done to her and it's all because of the customary attire of her culture. So basically it's her parents' fault (mostly her mother's).

Really Liza? As far as the school was concerned, her mother picked her up.

Stop making it racial.

I would have been extremely suspicious if a parent showed up so soon after school began to take her child to breakfast. That's a really weird thing to do.

Why couldn't the school have a policy of requiring parents to show a driver's license? The school could provide the parent with a student ID with the student's picture on it and have parents carry the ID since a student this young couldn't do it and show it for ID. Either of those things would have been simple to implement.

Liza, the child wasn't missing, at least according to the school. From their records, she was picked up by her mother.

pulsar182

Nope, it depends. Explain to me why my cousin who is a Sunni Muslim does not cover her face or hands. She has never worn a veil. Now I guess if she is in a country that does that, she would follow their laws, but she does not cover herself in the US. Also the daughters are being raised as Muslims, but they do not cover their heads unless they go to mosque, nor do they cover their faces or hands. The first time I saw a woman completely covered was in London. I know several muslims in the US who do not cover their faces. And what about Farahkan's folks, I've never seen any of their woman wear a veil.
The school should have a list on campus who can and cannot pick up the kids from school. I know the schools here in Louisiana do.

Are we sure it was a woman. Put a burka on and I challenge soemone to differentiate the genders.

The voice and hands are usually a give-away. I think I could probably tell the difference.

California Nurse - Voice might have worked but hands in this case wouldnt be in play the person who pulled the kid out was wearing gloves. ANd to be honest voice is not always a give away.

Regardless of what was being worn.. You would think they question taking a child from school for breakfast After the child was already there.. Who would do that...

...a California Nurse who has not heard males who speak/sing in voices indistinguishable from female voices?? You must have missed a big part of the California Culture.

This person who took the child could have easily been a male.

David,,the child is a CHILD. The adults are the ones who are supposed to be responsible here.

Ridiculous statement David. How can you blame a 5 year old for the idiotic action of a school official?

/

David, you clearly don't understand what it is to be an "innocent child".

I Understand what you are saying David.. Not to blame the child but a kid knows their mom.. Even at 5 years old.. Heck they know their address, phone # etc..

There is more to this..

If you read the article, the kid didn't know her address or phone number because they just moved there. Nothing says that the child thought it was her mother. Just an adult that the school told her she could leave with. Okay Nalia. Here's Tiffany. you can go now.

That's what I said. Great school system.

My son's school you show ID after you give them the student ID and they pull the list of registered people allowed to pick him up.. A real pain but necessary.

It's inconsistent, isn't it? Your daughter's school didn't bother to call about her absence, yet a federal judge in Texas (I think it was Texas) says it's okay to force students to wear chips so the school can know where they are in order to get the federal money for every day they are present in the classroom.

They don't care if the student is physically there as long as the chip says the child is in the building so they can count them for the money.

Thank you I was thinking similar thoughts.....

SO we are going to ban religious clothing - just muslim or all. Will we ban the wearing of yarmulkas (my appologies for the bad spelling), or the hasidic mens hats, or the wearing of crosses or stars of david, or mormon underwear? Where do we draw the line.

I do agree withthe photo id part.

Except their clothing is cultural not religion based.

Holly,

I was referring to the photo ID and the face must be uncovered. Other religious garb OK with reason, however I would prefer the banning of all outward religious symbolism.

The covering is so that men won't see the woman--there's nothing in their religion about a woman checking the covered woman's ID--it's easy, and others have said this here also--have women staff members check the covered persons ID--there's nothing in their religion about a woman taking off her head covering in front of another woman. Same with DMV, or the school snapping a picture for ID purposes--it wouldn't be hard to have a place for picture ID that is in another room, closet, whatever. The woman can take off her head covering in the presence of female staff taking the picture, and no one's religious rights gets violated. If a person objects to photo ID etc with those accommodations made, then they forfeit all rights and privileges associated with photo ID.

William--if all outward religious symbolism were banned, then to really be fair, all outward symbolism--religious/secular/philosophical--would need to be banned. Somehow, I think that would interfere with everyone's First Amendment rights of free speech.

Mouser I am a liberal and proud of it. But I firmly believe that the school could have asked for an ID and if the name on the id did not match those authorized to check the kid out the kid should have stayed at school. I also beliece that we can respect peoples cultural differences and still protect the kids - a female employee could have taken the perpetrator aside and had the face covering lowered and the photo id could have been compared to the actual face. This is not my idea alone others posted it first.

It is also not a liberal or conservative thing to suggest that the school screwed up - it appears they failed to ask for ID (I didn't know any school let kids out without checking the adults id) and did not obviously note who it was taking the kid.

I am a liberal and I am not comfortabloe with people wearing the burka in our society - not because I am anti Muslim bit rather we dont know what is under there man/woman, bomb, guns. CLothing that allows concealment of identity is a problem. Clothing that allows the easy hiding of illicit materials is a problem.

Of course I Could make a statement like "leave it up to conservatives and the NRA and we will be having shoot outs in the street because everybody will be armed like they were in Tombstone." And that would be as stupid a statement as yours. Not all people on the left or all people on the right believe the same, there is no checklist for beliefs.

Holly,

that's just what they want is to make you change your routine or take the time to look at the face in private. Give them and inch and they take a mile. Draw a line in the sand on this one. No covered faces if you want to pick up a chile. Photo on file does not match a covered face the child doesn't leave.

eat me mouser

William - The school would still have to ask for ID. The school didn't and children are still abducted by peoples who don't cover their face.... so first and foremost the School would still need to check the ID, that did not happen

Who decides whats backward or no? I smell HATE...

eat me tyates

A school that thought the mother had already signed the kid out.

Considering Tiffany wasn't even the mother's name, the school apparently just didn't feel like checking anything.

Wow. What a stupid and pointless comment.