Hostility Towards Christian Students in Public Schools Epidemic | thebereancall.org

TBC Staff - EN

Hostility toward Christian students in public schools 'epidemic,' says attorney

A California-based legal group says the number of cases showing hostility against Christian students in public schools is increasing.

Over the last year, Advocates for Faith and Freedom has experienced a surge in phone calls from both parents and students who are victims of religious-motivated bullying. The group has noticed roughly two to three times the number of calls for assistance in the past 60 to 90 days than it typically receives within a year. Most of the calls originate in California, but requests are coming from all across the country.

The legal group reported [January 13, 2014] that another first-grader in the Golden State was told by school officials that she is "not allowed to talk about the Bible in school." That incident in Temecula, California, came on the heels of a similar out of West Covina, California, in which first-grader Isaiah Martinez was told "Jesus is not allowed in school."

General counsel Robert Tyler [said] that what concerns Advocates is that the silencing and bullying of Christian students is mainly by school officials and teachers.

"The disapproval and hostility that Christian students have come to experience in our nation's public schools has become epidemic," he states. "We stand for the purpose of trying to protect kids in the public school system from the unlawful hostility that is so often directed these days towards Christian students and towards their religious beliefs."

Advocates notes that many cases deal with public school policies or the personal views of teachers and school officials who express hostility against Christian students. Incidents include religious bullying against a student who did a report from the Bible and another student who placed a Bible on their desk. Flyers for a Bible club were also deemed inappropriate because they mentioned the term "God" rather than a "higher power."

http://onenewsnow.com/education/2014/01/14/hostility-toward-christian-students-in-public-schools-epidemic-says-attorney#.UtbCW0Q1clI