The American Civil Liberties Union and the parents of a Buddhist student in rural northwest Louisiana have sued the Sabine Parish School System in federal court, alleging that his teacher openly mocked and chastised him for not being Christian.
“Like any parents, we were deeply concerned when our son C.C. began getting sick to his stomach on the way to school each morning.
At first, we thought he had fallen ill. But we soon found out a far more disturbing truth—that our son, a Buddhist of Thai descent, was afraid to go to school because his teacher was chastising him in front of his peers for his Buddhist faith.
As we dug deeper, we discovered that our son’s sixth-grade curriculum at Negreet High included extreme religious indoctrination. The school itself was covered in religious icons. Christian prayer was incorporated into nearly every school event. And our son’s teacher routinely preached her biblical beliefs to students and tested the children on their piety with exam questions such as this one: “ISN’T IT AMAZING WHAT THE _____________ HAS MADE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
When our son failed to answer religious questions like this correctly (the answer was “LORD”), his teacher mocked him for his beliefs.
And when we brought our concerns to the school superintendent, expecting compassion for our son’s treatment, we found none. She informed us that we live in the “Bible belt” and suggested that we transfer our son to another district school 25 miles away where, she claimed, there were “more Asians.””
The school board issued a statement as follows: “A lawsuit only represents one side’s allegations, and the Board is disappointed that the ACLU chose to file suit without even contacting it regarding the facts. The school system recognizes the rights of all students to exercise the religion of their choice and will defend this lawsuit vigorously.”
Read more at the Times-Picayune and the ACLU website.
