June 24, 2008

Cross branded onto US school child’s skin


by David Masters

A Christian teacher who burned an image of the cross onto a student’s arm has been dismissed from his post.

John Freshwater, a science teacher at Mount Vernon Middle School in Ohio, USA, was fired following an investigation into the incident.

According to the parents of one child at the school, Freshwater used an electrostatic tool to burn the image of the cross onto their son’s arm.

The cross apparently stayed on the child’s arm for over three weeks, leading his parents to claim that his civil rights had been violated.

Freshwater, who keeps a Bible on his desk, claims that the image was not a Christian cross, but an ‘X’, and that the experiment has been part of the school curriculum for over 20 years.

However, following an independent investigation, the school’s board voted unanimously to fire Freshwater.

Past complaints against the teacher, who is popular with students at the school, include teaching creationism in science classes, and failing to remove religious materials from his teaching environment.

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One Response to “Cross branded onto US school child’s skin”

  1. Janig Epstein on June 25th, 2008 3:32 am

    I am amazed that this story has gotten so little air time. It is appalling that a public school teacher was allowed to stay in the classroom after intentionally burning one student, let alone 2. The teacher does not deny burning the students although he claims that the symbol he burned into their sking was meaningless. Who is sitting on this story!! Literally hours are spent on fake stories like a supposed pregnancy pact and silly stories like naked cowboys, but this story goes nowhere!!!! WHY!!

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