School calls police to stop 7-year-old kid from sharing Bible verses

originally posted by: AccessDenied

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: AccessDenied

Why should the mother have to not send her own kid Bible verses? They are his. It shouldn't be any business of the school's what she puts in his lunch for him. It's not like someone other kid will see them by accident and get anaphylactic shock as if they were wayward peanuts or strawberries.

Point being, when he began to share them, it became an issue they had to deal with. That could have been dealt with by keeping their religious verses at home. There are many uplifting, positive quotes that she could have sent in place of them that were not religious. And as another member stated, involving the law was definitely overkill. This could have been handled easily in the school office, or even by a simple note home, politely asking her not to.

What if someone was wearing a cross where all could see it?

Do you tell them they can't?

No, the school has no business telling a parent what they can or can't put on their own child's note from home in a lunch box.

I don't see the school stopping kids from sharing cuss words and sex talk, so why should kids not share any other talk with each other? I get offended when my son comes home and starts dropping the "f" bomb in inconvenient places, but if I complain to the school, they aren't going to call out the sheriff on little Tommy's folks for it.

And quite frankly, these are the sorts of things as parents that we used to all deal with at home. If a parent is offended by the idea that little Billy learned about a Bible verse in school because another kid had the concept, then that atheist or Wiccan or Muslim or Jewish or what have you parent deals with it at home in much the same way I deal with the "f" bomb. We have a teachable moment and explain to our kids why this is not appropriate for them.

We do not call the school and try to get legal action taken against that other family for having differing beliefs. After all, this is what living in a pluralistic society and being tolerant is supposed to mean and little Billy will have to learn that he isn't the only one with belief X out there sooner or later, one way or another.

wow. very sad.

the schools just don't want to put the effort into managing these issues with some common sense. It's like the new bullying policy, everybody gets suspended, no questions asked. they are too busy to figure out who started it

this is the same idea. they are too lazy to just keep an eye on it and guide it and make sure it stays positive

originally posted by: muzzleflash

originally posted by: AccessDenied
Mountain out of a molehill. The school only needed to ask the mother not to send them in the lunch. I'm all for freedom of religion, but keep it to yourself.

You're wrong.

The school had no authority to request such a thing.

You are against Freedom of Speech.
How can you not see that?

Mountain out of molehill. The parents of the other children have rights as well to decline the sharing of religious text that they themselves do not share within their own belief system. The child is seven years old for pete's sake and wouldn't understand a lick of all this, but the mother is imposing her belief system onto others without warrant and obviously it bothered enough people to complain, and the teacher and school took action. It's nothing more than that. I'm not condoning calling the police, and I'm not against the freedom of the mother to share bible scriptures with her own child. BUT..she knowingly crossed a line that she had no business crossing, and it's not as if the bible is filled with new ideas that need to be shared far and wide. If the parents of the other children wanted such involvement of religion in their child's life it would be there.

a reply to: AccessDenied

If she is only sending a message to her own son] in his own lunch box, she is not imposing her faith on anyone else.

The other kids can ask for notes, and if she sends them, a wise parent does not put actual verses on them.

But there is no right for the school to prevent her sending notes to her own child.

This is plain stupid and reminds me of 1984. SJWs and atheists/muslims are able to spew their stuff, but a kid kindergardener saying some verses get the police after him? Pure BS. This is why we need Trump, so that these "political correctness" snowflakes will be done away with.

Overreaction by the police and school. The school needs some funding cuts so that they are smarter. I'm sure the police could've responded to a real emergency somewhere else.

This merited police action?

Interesting.

From the California Penal Code

148.3. (a) Any individual who reports, or causes any report to be
made, to any city, county, city and county, or state department,
district, agency, division, commission, or board, that an "emergency"
exists, knowing that the report is false, is guilty of a misdemeanor
and upon conviction thereof shall be punishable by imprisonment in a
county jail for a period not exceeding one year, or by a fine not
exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that imprisonment
and fine.

What's an emergency?

(c) "Emergency" as used in this section means any condition that
results in, or could result in, the response of a public official in
an authorized emergency vehicle

So... some moron called for a Sheriff to respond to this school because a 1st grader was handing out papers. Nice.

Start enforcing the law and this stupidity will stop.

I'm all for free speech and freedom of religion, but when you are imposing your personal religious beliefs onto other people's children, there's a problem.

Not your kid, not your decision.

A media spokesman for the sheriff’s office told WND he knew nothing about the deputy visiting the 7-year-old’s home at the request of school officials and declined to comment. Read more at www.wnd.com...

Interestingly the only "sources" are from the far right sites and Liberty Counsel (except for Washington Times). And in a letter to the school from Liberty Counsel it implies that the parents were the one doing this, not the child. They are the ones who "proselytize" to the children at school

When I was a child if some started telling me about religion I'd listen even though I disagreed. What ever happened to letting kids choose and deciding stuff on their own? This new age of selecting what the young are allowed to discuss and believe is creepy. These generations have the worst parents/adults ever.

originally posted by: daryllyn
I'm all for free speech and freedom of religion, but when you are imposing your personal religious beliefs onto other people's children, there's a problem.

Not your kid, not your decision.

Except the notes are for her kid. It is her kid so it is her decision. Now later on the other kids wanted notes too. If she was going to send them notes, she should not put verses on those, just nice sentiment.

Basically, there is no way to stop her son from sharing the note with other kids anymore than you can stop kids from talking about what was said at the family dinner table, so if you do a family devotion like we do and he talks about it, are you saying we now have no right to do that either because someone else's kid might hear about it and their parents might be offended?

Sorry, I don't think that's how it works.

a reply to: ketsuko

Sending notes for her own child, whether he shared them or not, wasn't where the problem began.

The problem began when she sent religious materials to the school, for children that she didn't give birth to, without any kind of consent from the parents.

Once again... You do not have the right to impose your religious beliefs on other people's children without an okay from their parents, period. It may not be in the constitution, it might not be a law, but we all know that our society operates with many unspoken rules, and indoctrinating other people's children certainly falls underneath that umbrella, as something that just should not be done.

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: AccessDenied

If she is only sending a message to her own son] in his own lunch box, she is not imposing her faith on anyone else.

The other kids can ask for notes, and if she sends them, a wise parent does not put actual verses on them.

But there is no right for the school to prevent her sending notes to her own child.

Exactly. That is what I am saying. BUT...you cannot stop a young child from sharing because they tend to be defiant. And she WAS sending religious notes. Being the adult, she should have stopped sending them to other children, and to avoid any more disruption, I suggested not sending them with her own son. She created more of a problem by doing so, than whatever benefit she thought would be there for her child and his classmates.
This whole story got blown sky high out of proportion and should simply have been dealt with between the school and parents, just like any other behavior deemed disruptive to the class. It didn't need to become a fight between Christians and non Christians, and it didn't need to become a freedom of speech issue. Small things like this that make you go from 0-60 in 2.2 seconds is just the type of mentality that fuels calling the police instead of dealing with it on the small scale level it deserved.

Tinker v Des Moines. The school is at fault. Really straightforward.

a reply to: daryllyn

What about if my kid owes another kid money? Should I just not send it? After all, those horribad dollars have "In God We Trust" all over them.

a reply to: AccessDenied

The school could kiss my @ss. If I want to send a note with a verse on it to my own kid, I will. They have no business telling me not to because some other kid happened to see it.

And now for the truly sad aspect all of you are glossing right over.

How sad is it that one kid's mother takes the time, loves him enough to send him special notes, and the other kids think this is cool and are so desperate that they want some strange kids mom to send them special notes?

Think about how sad it must be to be so starved for special attention from your own parents that you want a strange kid's mom to send you notes like that.

And instead of feeling bad that their own kids want that kind of love, those parents get mad that one mother loves her son that much and they complain to the school to try to get her to stop showing that love.

Who cares if the mother put notes in his lunch anyway. The school can't stop that. They also can't stop him passing out more notes to other kids. They are allowed to discuss the bible if they want to.

The school on the other hand can not teach or promote the bible or any religion to the students. The students are perfectly free to talk about it if they want to. Only the school is prohibited from promoting Religion.

People need to chill out.

But I also have my doubts this story is true or reported accurately. It comes from a christian website via a Fox News Story and involves Liberty Council which is a suspect organization itself. But if it is true the school needs to relax. You can't stop kids from talking about the bible if they want to.

I don't think people understand what freedom even means. Calling the police for this? If this was my child, I'd own the house of who ever called the police. This is stupid.

originally posted by: daryllyn
a reply to: ketsuko

Sending notes for her own child, whether he shared them or not, wasn't where the problem began.

The problem began when she sent religious materials to the school, for children that she didn't give birth to, without any kind of consent from the parents.

Once again... You do not have the right to impose your religious beliefs on other people's children without an okay from their parents, period. It may not be in the constitution, it might not be a law, but we all know that our society operates with many unspoken rules, and indoctrinating other people's children certainly falls underneath that umbrella, as something that just should not be done.

Didn't I read somewhere that kids enjoyed it so much they asked for their own notes themselves? Can you explain how that fits the description of imposing anything?

a reply to: ketsuko
I think the problem stems from the mother making more "bible verse cards" to be distributed to other kids in the school. That to me is a serious problem.
These children are at a susceptible age, unable to distinguish between logical thoughts and suggestive thoughts.

We don't know the quotes that were used either. If it's anything like the approach currently used in england (religious cards) then they may mention the concept of hell or that not following god may have a detrimental affect on your soul. That is a very dangerous road which could lead others to judge those that don't share their beliefs (beliefs being whatever a random quote said).what if the quotes mentioned women's roles or slavery etc etc, completely innocent quotes from the parents but offensive to those that dont want to promote gender roles, promote equality etc etc.

And it has to be said. If this was quran quotes we know fine well on ATS the interpretations would be very different of this scenario.

Child has every right to his thoughts and freedom of speech outside of school and so does the parent for putting whatever reading material she wants to in his lunchbox. No problem. The problem lies with distributing this content on the basis of recruiting and confusing the messages other children's parents might be instilling upon there own child.

Oh and for all the PC people on ATS at the moment. Since when is a child allowed freedom of speech in school? Did I miss that movement? Do you think anything would be tauhhy/learnt in school if children of this age felt the need to exercise their freedom of speech. Crazy throwing FOS in this situation,