Tennessee elementary school student, Erin Shead, told she can’t write about God
A Tennessee mom is angry after a school teacher told her daughter that she couldn’t write about God for a school assignment asking students to write about someone she idolizes.
Fox News details how Erin Shead, age 10, was told she couldn’t use God as an idol for the assignment.
‘I look up to God’ is not acceptable in one Tennessee classroom photo screenshot WREG coverage
“I look up to God,” she wrote. “I love him and Jesus, and Jesus is His earthly son. I also love Jesus” adding that God would “always be the #1 person I look up to.”
Her mother, Erica Shead, spoke with WREG saying “It was so cute and innocent. She talked about how God created the earth and how she’s doing the best she can.”
The teacher also instructed the child she had to take the paper home, ‘it could not remain at school,’ because it had to do with God.
Erin later chose Michael Jackson which was acceptable.
Snead told WREG: “How can you tell this baby, that’s a Christian, what she can say and what she can’t say?”
Shead took her concerns to the school principal at Lucy Elementary Wednesday morning. “Can you show me this in a policy where this child cannot talk about God on paper,” asked Shead.
Spokesman Christian Ross said teachers can’t promote religion, but there is not a policy preventing students from writing assignments about any God or religion.
OFFICIAL STATEMENT FROM THE SCHOOL:
“Shelby County Schools respects the moral and religious beliefs of all students and families. While teachers and staff are not permitted to promote religion in the classroom, no laws or district policies allow teachers to limit students’ expression of religious beliefs in their personal classwork. This was a regrettable misunderstanding, and we as educators must learn from it. The principal and teacher have had a positive and productive conversation with the family, and we are pleased this matter is being addressed at the school level. The district will not be discussing this matter further in the media.” – Shelby County Schools
[…] Officials at Lucy Elementary School in Memphis, Tennessee have reversed course after a teacher banned a 10-year-old student from writing about God for a class assignment. […]
The kids discussing God appears to have been a problem for the teacher and she didn’t know what to do
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/09/13/mom-reveals-reason-her-daughter-was-banned-from-writing-about-god-in-school/