Hearing begins for Mount Vernon teacher who refused to remove Bible from desk

Columbus Dispatch ^ | October 2, 2008 | Alayna DeMartini

[Soliton]

Dozens of admirers surrounded the eighth-grade science teacher in the middle of the town square.

It was April, and the first of several rallies that John Freshwater and his supporters would hold to drive his point home: He would not remove his Bible from the desk of his public-school classroom. Mount Vernon school administrators had ordered him to do that, among other things.

"This is nothing short of another blatant attack on free-speech rights," he said.

That's how Freshwater and his supporters frame the issue: A veteran teacher is fighting for his right to keep his Bible on his desk.

But there's more to it, the school board said.

In December, a student reported waking up in pain the night after Freshwater used a high-voltage lab tool to burn a cross into his left arm. Photos taken by the boy's parents show red, raised dots, a mark that they said lasted for three to four weeks.

The manufacturer of the device, which is used to test gases in experiments, said it should never touch human skin. Now, the boy's parents are suing Freshwater and the school board.

[Paul Heinzman]

No one would've had a problem with "The Communist Manifesto" or Rules for Radicals, though.

[DJ MacWoW]

Did the teacher burn the kids arm or did he do it himself? And you can say anything in a classroom as long as it has nothing to do with God. Why are some people so afraid of that name?

[rwilson99]

[b]In December, a student reported waking up in pain the night after Freshwater used a high-voltage lab tool to burn a cross into his left arm. Photos taken by the boy’s parents show red, raised dots, a mark that they said lasted for three to four weeks.[/b]

I have a problem with this... reminds me of a certain trooper and his use of a taser on an 11 year old.

[Paul Heinzman]

I was premature in my response. If the teacher in fact burned crosses in the student's arms, he's guilty of assault. The story is terribly written, focusing on the bible on his desk rather than the burns on the student's arms.

When they stopped teaching journalism students that the first paragraph should contain Who-What-Where-When, journalism died. It started with the first issue of The USA Today, IMHO.

[Soliton]

Did the teacher burn the kids arm or did he do it himself?

The teacher admits he did it?

[combat_boots]

No

[DJ MacWoW]

Did he? Or are they claiming that he did? I haven’t made a decision on this yet.

[Soliton]

Freshwater first told investigators he put X's -- not crosses -- on students. But he has since denied burning or branding any children.

[LiberConservative]

A Bible on your desk?! The horror ... the horror ...

[curiosity]

Freshwater first told investigators he put X's -- not crosses -- on students.

Oh, well, I guess that makes it okay then...

[ViLaLuz]

“Why are some people so afraid of that name?”

Because it reminds the rebellious that they themselves are not God, and they don’t like being told the truth.