Sunday, December 21, 2008

6th-grader's Christmas Poem Rejected

A public school teacher in Mississippi marked down an eleven-year-old's Christmas poem assignment . . . because he used the word "Jesus."

-- From "No, Christ isn't allowed in Christmas" © 2008 WorldNetDaily 12/20/08

Liberty Counsel, a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing religious freedom, reports that sixth-grader Andrew White of Hattiesburg, Miss., chose to write the poem on the assignment
"What Christmas means to me."

After White turned in his rough draft, however, his teacher circled the word "Jesus" and deducted a point from his grade. The teacher then explained that he needed to rewrite the poem without the offending word.

When White's parents questioned the teacher, Liberty Counsel reports, they received a response email explaining, "[Andrew] and another child did a poem about Christ. I know we can't discuss these type [sic] of things in school so I asked the two of them to do another poem of their choice."

Mathew D. Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel and dean of Liberty University School of Law, expressed dismay that despite many legal clarifications on the issue, there are still educationl officials that mistakenly believe students can't speak of their faith at school.

To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.