Second Grader suspended for drawing Jesus on the cross for Xmas

[Josephus]

This seems to have been very poor reporting so far.

All reporting is poor reporting.  The ineptitude of journalists is matched only by their dishonesty.

As an inept journalist, I concur.

[The Brain]

America sucks.

[KRonn]

Now the father claims that what he said was true, or at least some of it. Not a big deal, but it's local news. I'd think it shouldn't be hard to get the right story, if one of the vaunted newspapers or tv news asked a few questions.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,580282,00.html

Mass. Father Defends Claim That Boy, 8, Was Sent Home From School for Jesus Drawing



A Massachusetts father is standing by claims that his 8-year-old son was sent home from school after the boy drew a stick figure of Jesus on a crucifix.

Chester Johnson, 40, said his son did indeed draw the picture circulated to reporters and that Taunton School District officials later said was not the same drawing discovered by the second-grade student's teacher earlier this month.

"I swear to God, on my grave, you could kill me if I'm lying," Johnson, 40, told FoxNews.com. "I wouldn't make nothing up. This is the holiday season — I don't have time for that."

Johnson, who said he works for the Taunton School District as a part-time custodian, said his hours have been cut since the controversy made headlines locally and nationally.

"It's put a toll on me," Johnson said. "Now I'm trying to get a transfer."

Taunton School District officials did not immediately respond on Wednesday to Johnson's claims, including whether he was employed by the district.

In a written statement issued late Tuesday, school officials said the boy was never suspended over the sketch.

"This report is totally inaccurate, and the student was never suspended," the statement read.

The school claims the incident took place nearly two weeks ago and says the incident was handled "appropriately."

School officials also denied Johnson's claim that students were asked to draw something that reminded them of Christmas or another holiday.

"Contrary to what has been reported, there was no request or assignment by the teacher for students to sketch something that reminded them of Christmas or any religious holiday," the statement continued.

Johnson said his son made the drawing on Dec. 2 after his teacher asked children to sketch something that reminded them of the holiday season.

Johnson, who is African-American, told WBZ-TV that he suspected racism was involved, but revised that assessment when asked by FoxNews.com.

"No, I want to take that out," Johnson said. "I don't want to use the race card. This is God we're talking about, we're past that."

Johnson told the Taunton Daily Gazette, which first reported the story on Tuesday, that his son gets specialized reading and speech instruction and has never been violent in school.

An educational consultant working with the Johnson family said the teacher was also alarmed when the boy drew Xs for Jesus' eyes.

The boy was cleared to return to school on Dec. 7 after the evaluation found nothing to indicate that he posed a threat to himself or others. But his father said the boy was traumatized by the incident and the school district has approved the family's request to have the child transferred to another school.

"They owe my family an apology and the kid an apology and they need to work with my son (to) the best of their ability to get him back to where he was before all this happened," Johnson told New England Cable News.

Johnson said in the days before the incident the family had gone to the National Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette in Attleboro, which displays crucifixion statues.

"That was fresh on his mind," he told NECN. "And that was a good thing that he saw."

Superintendent Julie Hackett said she could not discuss an individual student and did not address the drawing specifically or the teacher's reaction to it, but did say the school has safety protocols in place that were followed.

"It is unfortunate that the actions of our district staff have been classified as 'religious' in nature when, in fact, they were based solely on the wellbeing of the student," the school said in a statement.

In June 2008, a Taunton fifth-grade student was suspended for a day for a stick figure drawing that appeared to depict him shooting his teacher and a classmate.

FoxNews.com's Joshua Rhett Miller and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

[Caliga]

Oh wait, the father is a black dude?  Lying.

[Caliga]

Anyhoo, I await Sarah Palin's inevitable idiotic comment about this.

[Darth Wagtaros]

Anyhoo, I await Sarah Palin's inevitable idiotic comment about this.

I was thinking about that Treason chick.

[Grallon]

Anyhoo, I await Sarah Palin's inevitable idiotic comment about this.

You realize she might be your next president do you? 



G.

[Caliga]

Chance of that happening: zero.  It is possible for an incompetent idiot to win the White House if the MSM is in love with them , but not if they despise said candidate.

[Grallon]

Chance of that happening: zero.  It is possible for an incompetent idiot to win the White House if the MSM is in love with them , but not if they despise said candidate.

We shall see.  I read in the papers the other that there are some GOPtards agitating to have that gangster Cheney run in 2012... Palin could become interesting as a running mate to rally the rabid christians?



G.

[Caliga]

The "rabid Christians", as much as folks like you an Marti fear them (understandably so), cannot themselves put someone into office... not anymore.

[LaCroix]

Anyhoo, I await Sarah Palin's inevitable idiotic comment about this.

You realize she might be your next president do you? 



G.

you betcha!

[KRonn]

Anyhoo, I await Sarah Palin's inevitable idiotic comment about this.

You realize she might be your next president do you? 



G.

I'd be very surprised if Palin did become a Pres candidate. She's just getting a temporary, but rather large, bump in her popularity, as Obama and the Dems tank a bit with all the politics going on lately. But as a real viable candidate I just don't see it happening. She'd have to go through quite a change and I don't think that's going to occur.  Though she now is apparently polling nearly as well as Obama in some respects.     And her book is a big hit, selling over one million copies in a very short time. Sheesh...

As for Cheney, no way, I'd have to say also. He's not the type, has no real ambition for Pres or VP again, and he's been pretty well tarred by his Bush admin days.

[Jacob]

Though she now is apparently polling nearly as well as Obama in some respects.     And her book is a big hit, selling over one million copies in a very short time. Sheesh...

Weren't they selling it for like a dollar or two when it was launched?

[Sheilbh]

Chance of that happening: zero.  It is possible for an incompetent idiot to win the White House if the MSM is in love with them , but not if they despise said candidate.

The MSM love Sarah Palin.  They may not want her to win but she provides stunning copy and, I imagine, circulation goes up big-time when you've got an interview with her or a story about her.  They sell so many copies off of Sarah Palin that I imagine they're praying every day that she says something terribly controversial.

[Caliga]

They love talking about her, yes, but always cast her in a very negative light.  If the public is constantly told to hate Sarah Palin, it's not going to help her campaign very much.