School employee called on the carpet for a prayer E-mail that she sent from home to her fellow church members
-- From "School receptionist faces sack after five-year-old daughter is told off for talking about God" by Sam Greenhill, The Daily Mail (UK) 2/12/09
The row broke out on January 22 when divorced [employee Jennie] Cain went to pick up [5-year-old] Jasmine and her brother Ben, eight, from the state primary school, which has 271 pupils. She said: 'My daughter burst into tears, her face was all red and she was clearly upset.
'She said, "My teacher told me I couldn't talk about Jesus". I couldn't believe what I was hearing. She said she was taken aside in the classroom and told she couldn't say that. I was so shocked, I didn't know what to do.'
That weekend Mrs Cain emailed a prayer request from her personal computer at home to trusted friends from her church. She said: 'I asked them to please pray for us, please pray for Jasmine, please pray for the school and pray for the church.'
But a copy fell into the hands of Gary Read, headmaster at Landscore Primary School, in Crediton, Devon.
The next day Mr Read invited her into his office after he received a complaint from the mother of the child who had been upset by Jasmine's remark.
The case has caused fresh outrage in the Christian community, which fears its members are becoming the most discriminated against people in society.
Mrs Cain, who has not been suspended, added: 'It seems that there is something about the Christian faith that has triggered this very strong, very heavy-handed whack.' She thinks Mr Read was passed the email by a governor, who is married to one of the churchgoers she sent it to.
Former Tory minister Ann Widdecombe said: 'There is now daily evidence of Christianophobia in this country and it is high time that it was tackled. It is wicked to scold a small child for talking about Jesus. Even if the child was talking about going to Hell, that is what Christians believe.'
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