As of: March 15, 2024, 11:08 a.m
By: Florian Neuroth
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Press
Split
Children are exempt from fasting during Ramadan, but sometimes abstain voluntarily.
Institutions in Austria are now warning against this.
Vienna – Last Sunday (March 10th) a very special time began for Muslims.
Until April 9, 2024, billions of believers will celebrate the fasting month of Ramadan and will not eat or drink anything from sunrise to sunset for 30 days, according to the rule.
But not all Muslims have to fast.
Pregnant or nursing mothers and sick people are exempt from this - as are children before puberty.
Because some children in Austria still fast voluntarily, according to the Austrian Child and Youth Advocates, the institutions sent a letter to Austrian schools - with a kind of warning.
As the news portal
meine.at
writes, the child and youth advocates - independent institutions in the Austrian federal states that are supposed to ensure the implementation of children's rights - have observed that more and more Austrian students are fasting during Ramadan.
In the letter they warned of possible consequences.
“In recent years there have been an increasing number of inquiries from teachers after children who were fasting during Ramadan repeatedly had health problems in class, including circulatory collapse due to dehydration,” the paper quotes from the letter.
During Ramadan, Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset.
Children are exempt from this, but sometimes they also want to fast.
(Symbolic image) © Imago / Funke Photo Services
Austrian institutions recommend abstaining from sweets instead of fasting for children in Ramadan
A similar letter from the child and youth advocates to parents, some with the same wording, can already be found on the Internet for 2017.
According to the report, the new letter points out that in addition to sufficient sleep, children also need energy in the form of food and fluids - for school, health and physical and mental development.
The letter states: “We therefore ask all affected parents and caregivers to take this circumstance into account.”
As an alternative for students who expressly want to take part, the child and youth advocates recommend avoiding certain things such as sweets or sugary drinks.
Children could also only fast in the afternoon or teachers, parents and children could work out other aspects, such as using fewer cell phones or television.
Another option mentioned in the letter: Children could fast on the weekends or try “child fasting” until lunchtime during the holidays.
“Children do not fast,” says the Central Council of Muslims, only “voluntarily” for a few hours
The Central Council of Muslims in Germany is proposing something similar.
It is often the case in families that small children want to fast with them, writes the Central Council in response to a request from
IPPEN.MEDIA:
“You can accompany the children in an accompanying, playful fast, for example a two-hour fast,” it says.
You can also increase the number of hours of fasting on school-free weekends if the children express a wish.
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“Otherwise: Children do not fast!” is the Central Council’s position.
It is true that children are often told that they do not have to fast.
“However, the correct thing to say is that they are not allowed to fast at all.” If they do it voluntarily for one to three hours, it is allowed, “but it is by no means an obligation.” Unfortunately, worldwide there will always be at least one set of parents during Ramadan give “that forces his child to fast,” according to the Central Council.
Study saw positive effects on the performance of older students during the fasting month of Ramadan
The topic is discussed again and again in Germany, for example in Hesse in 2020.
The then Hesse Justice Minister Eva Kühne-Hörmann (CDU) threatened Muslim parents in an Instagram video that they could be “held criminally responsible” if they encouraged their young children to fast.
Previously, at the request of the SPD, Hesse's then Minister of Education, Alexander Lorz (CDU), reported that there were "individual cases of health-relevant or other incidents in Hessian schools that can be traced back to the fasting practice."
According to Lorz, it was mostly about “limited performance, excessive tiredness and poor ability to concentrate”.
A study from last year came to a different conclusion, according to which fasting during Ramadan had a positive effect on the performance of students in six Western European countries.
The researchers suspected that this was not due to fasting itself, but rather to the communal activities during Ramadan.
The adolescents made friends and built a network.
This has a positive effect on their performance.
It should be noted, however, that the researchers used PISA results between 2003 and 2018 - the students were usually at least 15 years old.
In Bavaria, “precautionary leave” is possible at schools due to fasting during Ramadan
In Bavaria, the Bavarian State Ministry for Education and Culture is “not aware of any problems in dealing with Ramadan and religious students,” as it said upon request.
If students refrain from eating during the day for religious reasons, the first question that arises is whether they are physically able to attend school at all or whether there is a reason for their prevention.
In order to exclude risks, a “precautionary leave of absence from face-to-face teaching” would also be considered.
This is decided by the respective school principal, according to the ministry.
The consequences are the same in both cases: “The students are absent from (face-to-face) lessons with an excuse, have to catch up on the lesson content and, if necessary, rewrite any missed certificates of achievement at the request of the teacher,” says the ministry.
If students are at school despite fasting and their physical condition becomes alarming, their legal guardians must be informed immediately.
One day of special leave for students in Baden-Württemberg for the Sugar Festival at the end of Ramadan
According to the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, in Baden-Württemberg the school supervisory authorities have dealt with the question of fasting by children in individual cases in recent years, for example with questions about participation in sports and swimming lessons.
The basic rule is that school attendance is compulsory during the fasting month of Ramadan.
“However, to break the fast, the so-called sugar festival, the students are given a day of special leave.
The same applies to the Feast of Sacrifice,” the ministry said upon request.
Schools are asked to take the specific needs of students into account during Ramadan within the framework of the general school regulations.
There are different guides that show the possibilities and limitations of this.
If children and young people want to practice fasting during Ramadan, this is fundamentally covered by freedom of belief.
“The school management is, however, required to point out in a discussion with the legal guardians that a health risk should be avoided at all costs and that the obligation to properly participate in lessons and other mandatory school events still exists,” says the ministry.
If necessary, participation in particularly physically demanding activities in physical education lessons can be avoided for welfare reasons.
(Florian Neuroth)