What a picture of bin Laden reveals about free speech in schools

A foreboding air of déjà vu surrounds the suspension of a teacher from a Bedfordshire school this week. A pupil at All Saints Academy complained that an image of Osama bin Laden had been labelled as the prophet Muhammad in a religious studies class and the teacher responsible has now been suspended until an investigation is completed.

The school said in a statement that ‘All Saints Academy recognises the deep hurt and distress that has been caused to the Muslim community’ and called the images that were used ‘totally inappropriate’ and ‘offensive’.

Was the image of bin Laden shown in jest, to start a discussion or did the teacher simply make a mistake? The details of the case aren’t yet clear. But regardless of how the image came to be shown or the motivation for sharing it, the incident has exposed the government’s inaction on safeguarding free speech in the classroom.