You can’t just decide you’re going to censor Lydia.’ So she was like, ‘Well, I’m going to get back with the district office, because I know it’s in there.’ The only thing she can point me to is like the drug culture, profanity, obscenities.Īnd I was like, ‘I’m sorry, but Jesus isn’t in these categories, and you’re going to have to give me a solid policy. So we literally go hand-in-hand through the handbook, she says like, ‘I know it’s in here somewhere.’ And she’s flipping through, and she gets to the dress code, which you would assume would be the policy. The principal calls me and she’s like, ‘We’re going to have to have Lydia swap her mask out,’ Booth recounts, adding that the principal said it was against school policy ‘to have religious symbols or gestures on her mask. (At the time she was called out for wearing the mask, Lydia had already been wearing it for two to three months.) After some research, Jennifer discovered there was no such policy, so she sent Lydia back to school with the mask. One day, however, one of her teachers suddenly insisted she had to remove the mask because students weren’t allowed to wear masks with words on them. In talking it over together, Jennifer suggested a mask that read, ‘Jesus Loves Me.’ Lydia was delighted at the idea and a family friend made the mask for her. Lydia Booth, nine years old, was quite willing to comply, and told her mother she’d like to wear a special mask. This situation took place during a time when students were required to wear masks in school during the pandemic.
(The story can also be heard in an interview here.) Perhaps you haven’t heard the story about Lydia Booth and her mother, Jennifer, who are devout Christians and were targeted for how they were practicing their beliefs. And they needed to be called out for their actions. These offenders were prepared in this story to conjure up rules, violate the first and second amendments, and harm children in the process.
And when the perpetrators are part of the school system, their actions are even more egregious. When children are treated badly, discriminated against, or attacked by the culture, I am protective and outspoken.