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Tennessee 10-year-old Vindicated; Allowed to Write about Her Hero—God

Aimee Herd : Oct 21, 2013
Liberty Institute

"I just wanted every Christian to know that we have a right to be able to express ourselves. We understand that they've taken prayer out of schools, but they cannot take God out of our children." –Erin's mother

Erin's Paper(Shelby County, TN)—Ten-year-old Erin Shead's assignment was to "write about her idol," according to a Liberty Institute report.

A Believer, Erin asked her teacher if she could write about God; her teacher said no.

Erin talked it over with her mother, however, and then decided to write up two assignments: one about Michael Jackson, and the other about how God is her idol.

When she tried to hand in the latter to her teacher the next day, only the assignment about Michael Jackson was accepted. In fact, she was told to bring the assignment about God home because leaving it at school possibly violated the First Amendment.

Erin's PaperErin's mother contacted the Liberty Institute which addressed the matter with the Shelby County School District, and the district has reportedly reversed the teacher's decision, allowing Erin to turn in her original assignment written about God.

"Young teachers, like Erin's, have been barraged with so much false information for so long that they are afraid that a 10-year-old student's coloring assignment might violate the First Amendment," said Liberty Attorney Jeremy Dys. "That kind of intimidation by the ACLU and Freedom from Religion Foundation is wrong and is precisely what Liberty Institute was founded to combat."

Erin wrote in her assignment: "I look up to God," "I look up to Him because He put me on this earth…" "God will always make me do the right thing…." Her paper received an "A" from her teacher.

Erin's mother told reporters that she took action because she "wanted Erin's right to be able to express herself not to ever be taken away again."

"I just wanted every Christian to know that we have a right to be able to express ourselves. We understand that they've taken prayer out of schools, but they cannot take God out of our children," Erin's mother added.