Bible Ripped In School
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Bible Ripped In School
A Bible was ripped apart in school and parents are concerned.
Reporter: Zac Schultz
Email Address: zschultz@nbc15.com
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Posted Friday --- December 21, 2007 -- 6:00pm

Janesville: A Janesville student was suspended after ripping up the Bible and making disparaging remarks about Christians during a class presentation.

The incident occurred December 7th at Janesville Parker High School.

Elle Jacobson says a boy got up to give his assigned speech on the teachings of Ralph Waldo Emerson and produced a Bible. "He pointed to the Bible and said now this piece crap had absolutely no reasoning and he went on to declare how the Bible was not true."

Elle said the whole speech only lasted a couple minutes. "He said he was going to do something that our little stupid minds wouldn't be able to comprehend. He took the Bible and pulled it out in front of the class and first he started ripping out pages, and then he started ripping out sections. Everybody looked stunned. I was stunned. I was shocked."

The Janesville School District confirms the incident occurs, but can't release any disciplinary actions due to privacy concerns.

The Janesville Gazette reports the student was suspended and required to undergo a psychological evaluation before he could return to school.

Parker Principal Dale Carlson says the student was not disciplined just for ripping up the Bible. "There were other behaviors that came to our attention from the classroom."

Paul Jacobson is Elle's father. "This is really a story about school safety. That's what had me concerned."

Paul pulled both his daughters out of Parker 9 days ago. He wants the district to convince him this incident was not a precursor to another school shooting. "This boy has done something that is unbalanced, violent in my opinion. He tore that Bible apart as a effigy for Christians. This was not some kind of a demonstration about free speech, this was in my opinion the words of a sociopath."

Karen Schulte is Janesville's Safety and Security Coordinator. She say they consult with police and do a threat assessment on potentially dangerous students.

Schulte understands the Jacobson's concerns, and is frustrated herself when she can't help them. "It is hard sometimes because I want all students to feel safe at school, though I can't divulge certain information."

As for Elle, she doesn't want to go back to Parker. "The speech was so violating and hostile that I can't deal with going through another one again."

Friday was the last day of classes before Janesville's winter break.

School officials would not say if the boy has returned to school.

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Latest Comments

Posted by: Anonymous Location: Austin TX on May 3, 2008 at 12:06 AM

As far as the school is concerned, they MUST take action. If you put the school in the position of the company (management), then they are legally REQUIRED to deal with a harassment issue if they are made aware of the situation. Failure to respond (talking with the student/employee for the first incident with or without disciplinary action) can make them legally responsible if there are repeated incidents. The school would be required to at least discuss the situation with the student and his parents. Disciplinary action may or may not be needed for the first offense. But if there are other situations that the school faculty is made aware of, then they will be required to take action against the employee/student, up to suspension or firing.
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Posted by: Anonymous Location: Austin TX on May 3, 2008 at 12:00 AM

This is neither a religious issue, nor a free speech issue to me. In a single word, this is about harrasment. In to words, workplace harassment. If you changed the situation a bit and made this a workplace incident instead of a public school, the boy would be guilty of creating a hostile work environment. This applies to many different varieties of harassment: sexual, ethnic, religious, or even just a personal dislike. Everyone is entitled to go to work and not feel threatened or uncomfortable by other employees or by their managers. This is no different. For those individuals who are saying that he wasn't threatening anyone, it doesn't matter what you think -- it only matters what the other employees (students in this case) think. The law allows the "victims" to determine if they've been harassed. If the boy made even one student feel uncomfortable, then he's pretty much guilty of having created a hostile work environment. There's no denying that he set the tone here.
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Posted by: Pstudent Location: Janesville on Jan 2, 2008 at 08:36 PM

I think everyone can agree that the speech was offensive, however, he did have the right to do it. After all. The bible is a book. It's material. The fact of the matter is: If you're a Christian, and you take your faith seriously...then what some junior does in our school shouldn't affect you. You shouldn't allow it to. If you really believe your faith is that strong than why /should/ it bother you. And really, the idea that he's a sociopath is absurd. Elle's the one that needs the evaluation. She's the only one that took it so seriously and to say she felt violated? Please. Grow up.
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