ISLAMOPHOBIA is alive and well among schoolchildren in regional towns and cities where ethnic groups form only a tiny proportion of the population.

Researchers studying the effects of the attacks of September 11, 2001, and the invasion of Iraq found disturbing levels of antagonism towards Muslims, the British Psychological Society (BPS) was told yesterday. They discovered that boys and young men are significantly more likely to be antagonistic toward Islam than girls.

Hatred and dislike of Muslims hardened after September 11, the BPS conference in Manchester was told, with 43 per cent of non-Muslims admitting that they became noticeably more anti- Islamic.

Of those who said that their negativity was “much worse”, boys and young men outnumbered girls and young women by 35 per cent.

There was a further deepening of anti-Islamic sentiment after the invasion of Iraq, with a quarter of young people admitting that they were more prejudiced than before.

Nathalie Noret, one of the researchers from St John’s College at York University said that gender differences were also clear on the right of Muslim girls to wear a headscarf in school. Ten per cent of the girls and women asked would oppose the move, compared with twenty-three per cent of men and boys.

The study revealed that in York, which is regarded as typical of British towns and cities with a low number of ethnic minorities, one in ten of young people questioned agreed with the British National Party’s policies. But support falls off as they grow older. Islamophobia is also vastly lower among young people who know Muslims.

More than 1,500 people from York between the ages of 13 and 24 were questioned for the study. “(It) has highlighted the need for intervention programmes in schools to support the full inclusion of Muslims and Arabs into our society,” Ms Noret said.

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