(Western Journalism) – Unfortunately, today’s morally bankrupt public education system apparently has no room for such a message of love and hope.
Second grade students at Cerro Gordo Elementary School in North Carolina were recently given a fairly common assignment. The kids were asked to think about who they consider to be a hero and begin writing a paper explaining their decision.
When 8-year-old Ryleigh Watts returned to class and informed her teacher who she wanted to honor, however, her mother said she was told to “write about something different.”
Who was the proposed subject of young Ryleigh’s paper? Jesus Christ.
“I think she should have freedom to write about what she wants to write about,” Heather Watts said of her daughter. “If she wants to write about Jesus, she should write about Jesus.”
According to a local NBC affiliate, the school disputes the controversy, explaining “we have learned that students were not restricted from writing on any topic of their choosing.”
The official statement encourages “our parents and guardians to contact or visit their child’s school to address any concerns.”
Ryleigh and her mother, however, are not budging from their original story. Watts met with both the school’s principal and her daughter’s teacher and reports that the situation has not been rectified. The young girl, she confirmed, must still find a new hero for her report.
The ordeal, Watts concluded, amounts to the school trampling on a student’s constitutional rights. Freedom of speech and religion are clearly delineated in the Bill of Rights; and, as she noted, both are being attacked through this assignment.
Obviously, students in school are held to a somewhat stricter standard than Americans in other environments. Rejecting an 8-year-old’s report based only on her admiration of Jesus Christ, however, is objectively discriminatory.
Much to the chagrin of many leftists, there is no basis for schools – or any public place – to ban personal displays of Christianity. Activists across the nation, however, seem to be pursuing that very goal.
In reality, Ryleigh’s choice made much more sense than any other imaginable subject. Christ left a perfect place to lay down his life for all mankind. If ever there was a story of heroism, the Gospel is it.
Unfortunately, today’s morally bankrupt public education system apparently has no room for such a message of love and hope.
Profane rappers like Jay-Z are heralded as role models by this administration, while kids idolize vampires and other monsters brought to life by leftists in Hollywood. Either of these choices, one might assume, would have been enthusiastically embraced by Ryleigh’s teacher.
[H/T WesternJournalism: B. Christopher Agee]