Teenage senior student, Kendra Turner was brought up in a good Christian family and taught to mind her manners, including saying “bless you” if somebody sneezed. However, she recently found out that her teacher at Dyer County High School, Memphis, Tennessee, would not permit any mention of anything to do with God in her class.
According to Turner, she had only given the polite reply when one of her classmates sneezed because that was what she had been taught to do, but her teacher immediately told her that there would be no Godly speak in class.
When the teenage student stood up for her rights and informed the teacher that she was only obeying her religious beliefs, the teacher promptly ordered her to get out of the classroom and report to the administrator’s office, said Turner.
Upon her arrival at the assistant principal’s office, she was told that she must obey the classroom rules of the teacher and she was placed on in-school suspension for the remainder of the class period. When the distraught student informed the administrator that she had been told by her pastor that she should stand up for her faith, she was told that freedom of speech and religion does not work at this school.
This has come as no surprise to Turner’s youth pastor, the Rev. Becky Winegardner, because she has been told by other students that this particular teacher is always trying to demean their faith in God.
WCM TV reported that they have received a picture of the classroom rules showing words that are not allowed to be used in class. Among the words not allowed, apart from “bless you,” are “dump,” “stupid,” “my bad” and “hang out,” the station added.
However, assistant principal Lynn Garner reportedly told the Dyersburg Gazette that she could not discuss disciplinary issues because of the students’ right to privacy. She added that there are two sides to every story and sometimes people distort the truth to support their claims.
After meeting with the school leaders on Tuesday, August 19, 2014 Turner’s parents said that the teacher is claiming their daughter was being disruptive in class. She apparently told them that Turner shouted across the room, at the top of her voice, “Bless You,” when another student sneezed.
Reportedly, in support of Turner, some students showed up for school this week wearing hand made shirts with the words “bless you” written upon them.
