shonna coleman
Shonna S Coleman/Facebook

A Mississippi mother’s social media post of a write-up her first grader received at school for saying “Jesus Christ” has earned thousands of comment, reactions, and shares. Shonna Coleman wrote on Facebook, “Please pray for the schools. My son got this from school for saying Jesus Christ.” The post included a picture of a “parent notice of disciplinary incident.”

The reason for the notice was checked “unacceptable language,” with the actions taken listed as “had conference with student” and “telephoned parent.” Coleman told FOX TV Stations, “It’s kind of unfair that he didn’t get a warning. It went straight to a write-up. I understand if he did it a second time, and then you write him up.” The note from the teacher said Coleman’s son “said ‘Jesus Christ’ when he dropped the Legos he was cleaning up from recess.”

A statement to Fox News said, adding that a student would “never be disciplined for simply saying Jesus Christ” and that several schools in the district have Christian fellowships that meet on campus, “It is possible that a student could be corrected for a disrespectful use of Jesus Christ’s name.” The district’s Facebook page says it oversees 42 public schools.

Coleman said the incident involving her 7-year-old son left her “shocked and surprised,” adding write-ups often follow kids in their school records. “This is so sad what is this world coming to,” one Facebook user wrote in response to Coleman’s viral post. “They need Jesus at that school. We must continue to pray for our children.”

Another woman wrote, “They would have to show me a policy where ‘Jesus Christ’ is deemed as unacceptable language.”

More from Beliefnet and our partners
Close Ad