GEORGIA
The Raw Story
SCOTT KAUFMAN
11 FEB 2015
The Freedom From Religion Foundation filed a lawsuit against the Emanuel County School System in Swainsboro, Georgia after a teacher insisted that the children of atheists participate in daily prayers.
According to the lawsuit, teacher Kaytrene Bright and Cel Thompson forced the children of anonymous plaintiffs Jane and John Doe to join their classmates in prayer or leave the classroom.
“Encouraging the Doe children to pray, or isolating and punishing the Doe children for electing not to pray, violates the deeply and sincerely held moral convictions of the Doe children and therefore their First Amendment rights,” the complaint reads.
Before lunch, the teacher of Jamie Doe would ask the class to bow their heads, fold their hands, and say, “God our Father, we give thanks, for our many blessings. Amen.”
Jessie Doe’s teacher, Kaytrene Bright, would ask students to say, “God is great, God is good, let us thank Him for our food. Thank you for our daily prayer. Amen.”
When John and Jane Doe learned of this, they contacted Swainsboro Primary School Principal Valorie Watkins, who told them that it they didn’t want their children to pray, their only recourse would be to have their children leave the classroom while the other children offered thanks to God.
Once this policy was initiated, Jamie told her parents that she began being teased by other students. Jesse said that his teacher, Kaytrene Bright, “used her mean voice” when she sent Jesse into the hallway, and pressured Jesse to pray.
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