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Question: Does a public school teacher have the right to send me to the office for drawing a picture of Satan in class?

Answer: Public school teachers are encouraged to deal with difficult students without resorting to trips to the principal, but teachers can decide whether a student is so disruptive that he or she needs to be removed from the classroom.

Once the student has been removed from the classroom, the principal or assistant principal should talk with the student to find out what happened before deciding what disciplinary action will be taken, if any.

Drawing a picture of Satan could be a completely innocent act of self-expression or an act of serious misconduct. It depends upon the circumstances: Was the drawing an art project or part of a threatening note? Was the drawing made on a piece of paper or on the student's desktop? A drawing of Satan is not something that warrants disciplinary action all by itself. But if the drawing is tied to some other misconduct, then disciplinary action may be justified. A trip to the principal's office may be needed to sort out what really happened.
Comments
16 thru 20 of 24 comments
On 01/10/03
R from SC said:
depends upon the circunstances. While the picturs of satan may not be the issue, DRAWING during class is an issue. The student was off task, and not doing his/her work. The teacher may have over reacted, but we're all human.
On 11/09/02
Sherry from MO said:
Disruptive generally means when other students aren't stayin gontask because of that one student. As a future teacher I would hope that the teacher that sent the kid to the office tried to first ask him/her why they drew the picture. Whatever happened to asking the student? Then the teacher should have established if this was something that should be dealt with by the principle. But again, we don't know what, if anything has happened prior with this student for the teacher to feel that they needed to send him/her to the principle.
On 11/05/02
Seth from AZ said:
If his only violation was drawing a picture of Satan in class, then the student/parent has every right to file a complaint. However, if he had been warned before about drawing in class, it might be a different story. But honestly, how many kids of been thrown out for "doodling"?
On 10/24/02
Elyse from AL said:
i think the kid should be able to draw a picture of satan if thats what tickles his turtle! i mean there is such thing as freedom of religion in the great ol' US of A and i think that we really should be able to express or religions.....any or all of them!!
On 10/13/02
mike from HI said:
Get real. The kid got in trouble for drawing in class. Get it? He was doing something that he shouldn't have. Religion? Satanism is a religion and under school conduct codes a person deemed dangerous needs to be dealt with. Someone worshiping evil is therefore deemed dangerous by the nature of the religion. MOREOVER, drawing a picture of Satan as a "figure head," would be grounds for concern of a teacher. Most important is the distinction of (1) why was this kid drawing in class. (2) does she send other kids for drawing in class to the principal. (3) what are the mitigating circumstan
16 thru 20 of 24 comments


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