Sometimes, some people, just don’t handle things the best way. Like a daycare teacher kicking an 8-year-old out of their facility for praying to Jesus.
Obviously, bringing up a child with a specific belief system is every parent’s right. It is not any teacher’s right, EVER, to re-educate a child on how wrong their belief system is. That’s what we have the 1st Amendment for. To protect our right to believe what we want, and to practice those beliefs.
These parents selected a daycare that they thought would be a good fit for their child. But after what appears to be numerous warnings from the daycare teacher that the child was not allowed to pray (practice sorcery?) at school, it seems the teacher had enough and kicked the child out of the daycare for good.
A couple of things should have clued these praying parents in to the fact that this daycare was not consistent with their belief system. For one, he calls it a “progressive daycare,” another he calls praying “sorcery,” lastly, he calls parents “seed providers.” Does that sound like language that’s consistent with a praying family? Not to me.
Here’s a quote from the teacher who was asked about the incident in question:
“I caught Samantha, hiding in the corner, praying again. I warned Samantha and her seed providers numerous times not to bring sorcery into my day care. I finally had to put my foot down. We’re a progressive day care. I like to think of the individuals that attend here not as children, but as little seeds of sunshine. These little rays of sunlight deal with a lot these days, they don’t need to be bogged down by some God that does not exist. That is why it is so important to keep invisible men and talking snakes out of their lives, and out of my day care.”
This is a private daycare. They cannot force them to accept their beliefs or allow them to practice their beliefs when those beliefs are inconsistent with the daycare’s system. It’s no different than an atheist attending a Christian school and expecting not to have to learn about Jesus. That’s not realistic. And it’s not realistic for this praying family to expect this atheist school to allow their child to openly pray to to Jesus without causing a problem.
We have to respect each others’ beliefs if we want to be respected. And by respected, I do not mean silenced. There is a time and place for everything.
The news report indicates the teacher spoke to the parents and child several times about prayer not being welcome at the daycare. The right thing to do would be for the parents to move the child. I guess they didn’t want to do that.
Unfortunately, the breaking point ended up being the teacher disparaging the child’s beliefs and kicking her out of school for those beliefs. If you think that won’t leave an emotional scar, think again. The teacher should have addressed the dismissal discreetly with the parents, not the child. But the parents could have avoided all of this by putting her in a daycare consistent with, or at least tolerant of, their belief system.
We all have to be adults, people, and take responsibility for our actions, and especially, bringing up our children in a safe environment that will nurture them in a way consistent with our beliefs, whether it be atheism or Christianity.
You can read more about the report here. Let me know your thoughts.
Photo Credit via MS Office ClipArt
