Girl suspended for saying ‘bless you’ at school

[Pogo]

Oh, common, this "bless you" thing is driving everyone absolutely crazy - why? To say "bless you" after someone sneezes is unconventional social tradition, you need to be Sheldon Cooper not to understand that.

Actually the tradition is to say "God Bless you". Because when someone sneezes their heart momentarily stops beating.

That's a myth.

 

[Againsheila]

A young girl in Tennessee says she was suspended after breaking a class rule of saying “bless you” after a classmate sneezed.

When Dyer County High School senior Kendra Turner said bless you, she says her teacher told her that was for church.

Turner feels her teacher was taking issue for her religion. When she stood up for herself, Turner says she was told to go to the administrator’s office. She was later placed in in-school suspension for the rest of that class period.

Her pastor Rev. Becky Winegardner says they had just talked about how to stand up for their faith last week.

“There were several students that were talking about this particular faculty member there that was very demeaning to them in regards to their faith,” Winegardner said.

Students sent WMC a photo of the teacher’s white board that lists “bless you” and other expressions that are banned as part of class rules.

Girl suspended for saying ‘bless you’ at school | WGN-TV

Oh bullshit. Summa y'all are just so damn gullible to hack fake-news stories. Does no one vet these bullshit articles any more?

Your own link notes, "Turner's family met with school leaders Tuesday. They say the teacher claimed Turner was being disruptive and aggressive". This one goes further:

>> Obviously, there’s no recording of what happened, so this is inevitably the student’s word against the teacher’s, and the student got her side out before anyone else could respond.

So I called up Principal Peggy Dodds just a little while ago and got her side of the story before shit hits the fan in the conservative world.

According to Dodds, Turner was not given an in-school suspension. She wasn’t sent out of the classroom, either — she chose to walk out. And, most importantly, she wasn’t punished by the teacher for saying “God bless you” — however, the teacher did admonish her for “disrupting the classroom.”

Since I can’t verify the specifics of what was said (including the remarks about “Godly speaking”), let me offer this hypothetical:

The class was supposed to be quiet. Someone sneezed. Turner said *something* in response (it doesn’t matter what) and the teacher asked her to be quiet. Turner took that as a knock on her faith and felt the need to defend against it. The teacher only saw this as a further disruption and the situation escalated. The student, clearly frustrated, ran out of the classroom and, not long after that, posted something on Facebook. <<
​

PC-gone-wild is one thing but this appears to be the other side of the coin: martyr complex.

C'mon people. Use your heads. Quit stepping up to the counter every time some snake oil salesman opens for business.

So explain this:

Students sent WMC a photo of the teacher’s white board that lists “bless you” and other expressions that are banned as part of class rules.

<<

and if you watch the video you can see the list and it clearly says "bless you" is banned.

 

[Ravi]

Actually the tradition is to say "God Bless you". Because when someone sneezes their heart momentarily stops beating.

No it doesn't.

 

[mudwhistle]

A young girl in Tennessee says she was suspended after breaking a class rule of saying “bless you” after a classmate sneezed.

When Dyer County High School senior Kendra Turner said bless you, she says her teacher told her that was for church.

Turner feels her teacher was taking issue for her religion. When she stood up for herself, Turner says she was told to go to the administrator’s office. She was later placed in in-school suspension for the rest of that class period.

Her pastor Rev. Becky Winegardner says they had just talked about how to stand up for their faith last week.

“There were several students that were talking about this particular faculty member there that was very demeaning to them in regards to their faith,” Winegardner said.

Students sent WMC a photo of the teacher’s white board that lists “bless you” and other expressions that are banned as part of class rules.

Girl suspended for saying &#8216;bless you&#8217; at school | WGN-TV

Oh bullshit. Summa y'all are just so damn gullible to hack fake-news stories. Does no one vet these bullshit articles any more?

Your own link notes, "Turner's family met with school leaders Tuesday. They say the teacher claimed Turner was being disruptive and aggressive". This one goes further:

>> Obviously, there’s no recording of what happened, so this is inevitably the student’s word against the teacher’s, and the student got her side out before anyone else could respond.

So I called up Principal Peggy Dodds just a little while ago and got her side of the story before shit hits the fan in the conservative world.

According to Dodds, Turner was not given an in-school suspension. She wasn’t sent out of the classroom, either — she chose to walk out. And, most importantly, she wasn’t punished by the teacher for saying “God bless you” — however, the teacher did admonish her for “disrupting the classroom.”

Since I can’t verify the specifics of what was said (including the remarks about “Godly speaking”), let me offer this hypothetical:

The class was supposed to be quiet. Someone sneezed. Turner said *something* in response (it doesn’t matter what) and the teacher asked her to be quiet. Turner took that as a knock on her faith and felt the need to defend against it. The teacher only saw this as a further disruption and the situation escalated. The student, clearly frustrated, ran out of the classroom and, not long after that, posted something on Facebook. <<
​

PC-gone-wild is one thing but this appears to be the other side of the coin: martyr complex.

C'mon people. Use your heads. Quit stepping up to the counter every time some snake oil salesman opens for business.

So explain this:

Students sent WMC a photo of the teacher’s white board that lists “bless you” and other expressions that are banned as part of class rules.

<<

and if you watch the video you can see the list and it clearly says "bless you" is banned.

And don't ever mention the Washington Redskins.

 

[Esmeralda]

A young girl in Tennessee says she was suspended after breaking a class rule of saying “bless you” after a classmate sneezed.

When Dyer County High School senior Kendra Turner said bless you, she says her teacher told her that was for church.

Turner feels her teacher was taking issue for her religion. When she stood up for herself, Turner says she was told to go to the administrator’s office. She was later placed in in-school suspension for the rest of that class period.

Her pastor Rev. Becky Winegardner says they had just talked about how to stand up for their faith last week.

“There were several students that were talking about this particular faculty member there that was very demeaning to them in regards to their faith,” Winegardner said.

Students sent WMC a photo of the teacher’s white board that lists “bless you” and other expressions that are banned as part of class rules.

Girl suspended for saying &#8216;bless you&#8217; at school | WGN-TV

Oh bullshit. Summa y'all are just so damn gullible to hack fake-news stories. Does no one vet these bullshit articles any more?

Your own link notes, "Turner's family met with school leaders Tuesday. They say the teacher claimed Turner was being disruptive and aggressive". This one goes further:

>> Obviously, there’s no recording of what happened, so this is inevitably the student’s word against the teacher’s, and the student got her side out before anyone else could respond.

So I called up Principal Peggy Dodds just a little while ago and got her side of the story before shit hits the fan in the conservative world.

According to Dodds, Turner was not given an in-school suspension. She wasn’t sent out of the classroom, either — she chose to walk out. And, most importantly, she wasn’t punished by the teacher for saying “God bless you” — however, the teacher did admonish her for “disrupting the classroom.”

Since I can’t verify the specifics of what was said (including the remarks about “Godly speaking”), let me offer this hypothetical:

The class was supposed to be quiet. Someone sneezed. Turner said *something* in response (it doesn’t matter what) and the teacher asked her to be quiet. Turner took that as a knock on her faith and felt the need to defend against it. The teacher only saw this as a further disruption and the situation escalated. The student, clearly frustrated, ran out of the classroom and, not long after that, posted something on Facebook. <<
​

PC-gone-wild is one thing but this appears to be the other side of the coin: martyr complex.

C'mon people. Use your heads. Quit stepping up to the counter every time some snake oil salesman opens for business.

So explain this:

Students sent WMC a photo of the teacher’s white board that lists “bless you” and other expressions that are banned as part of class rules.

<<

and if you watch the video you can see the list and it clearly says "bless you" is banned.

And don't ever mention the Washington Redskins.

And I explained exactly why saying bless you would be banned. It has nothing to do with religion or with being anti-Christian. In fact, kids in non-Christian schools also say bless you when someone sneezes. Your outrage is completely misguided and misplaced.

 

[Pogo]

Even though I consider saying "Bless you" after someone sneezes to be silliness, I find making a big deal out of it to the point of suspending a child from school to be the definition of asinine.

There is zero evidence she was "suspended". For that matter there is zero evidence the incident had anything to do with saying "bless you". This is a bullshit "story".

to be fair, there is evidence....you've just chosen not to believe it....

But based on other evidence...what the school has said...her statements do not seem reliable. And based on many cases of claimed religious intolerance by teachers, this one seems more likely to fall into the category of untrue.

I believe the most likely scenario is that the girl shouted or yelled or otherwise made some obnoxious point in her "Bless you" and it was the attitude and disrespect that got her sent to the office.

The in school suspension was normal procedure for being sent to the principal and not a direct consequence of her words.

It just smells of a martyr complex given what we have of both sides -- the girl said whatever she said, was told not to disrupt class, chose to make it into a "religion/free speech" issue, walked out on her own and then posted "poor me" on Nosebook. And the media always hungry for controversy started drooling, didn't get another side of the story (or didn't want one since it would buzzkill the story) and ran with it based on nothing but a Nosebook post. Then gullible message board posters start drooling and run the same way.

That's why I keep saying this is about the uncurious unwashed who willingly swallow this journalistic snake oil without bothering to cock a critical eye. And that's not a good habit.

Kendra Turner held a press conference (<< that's a clue all by itself to what's going on here) on Tuesday and offered this look at her motivations:

"I want God to be able to be talked about in school," she said. "I want them to realize that God is in control and they're not."

This was quoted in the Snopes link but they didn't provide a source. So I found my own. Check out the T-shirt she's wearing in the video; can you say "agenda"?

Now we have both sides confirming that this was in fact a power trip, a challenge to school authority.

The school, for its part, cannot comment in detail citing their own policies of protecting their students' privacy. Of course Kendra Turner is under no such restriction. In other words, she gets a monologue.

 

[Ravi]

She has a fine future ahead of her lying, er, I mean reporting, for Brietbart or FAUX.

 

[Esmeralda]

Even though I consider saying "Bless you" after someone sneezes to be silliness, I find making a big deal out of it to the point of suspending a child from school to be the definition of asinine.

She was not suspended from school!!! She was removed from the class and not allowed to return to it for the rest of the period. She was at school, but not allowed to return to that class for that period BECAUSE she was disrupting the class---i.e.: not allowing the other students to get on with their education.

 

[Ravi]

My daughter wishes she'd thought of this when she got sent to the principal's office for looking at her cell. She could have said she was praying to a pic of Jebus and got herself 15 minutes of fame.

 

[Pogo]

She has a fine future ahead of her lying, er, I mean reporting, for Brietbart or FAUX.

Or Drudge or JihadWatch or Morning Star or the Blaze... the opportunities are endless.

"Thank God for the internet" -- P.T. Barnum

 

[Pogo]

Even though I consider saying "Bless you" after someone sneezes to be silliness, I find making a big deal out of it to the point of suspending a child from school to be the definition of asinine.

She was not suspended from school!!! She was removed from the class and not allowed to return to it for the rest of the period. She was at school, but not allowed to return to that class for that period BECAUSE she was disrupting the class---i.e.: not allowing the other students to get on with their education.

And according to what we heard from the principal, she wasn't even removed -- she walked out on her own. Kind of an "I'll take my ball and go home!" move. Which attention seekers can do when they have the convenient combination of Nosebook and a gullible audience.

 

[Esmeralda]

Even though I consider saying "Bless you" after someone sneezes to be silliness, I find making a big deal out of it to the point of suspending a child from school to be the definition of asinine.

There is zero evidence she was "suspended". For that matter there is zero evidence the incident had anything to do with saying "bless you". This is a bullshit "story".

She wasn't suspended. She was removed from the class for the rest of the period. It is called in school suspension. She was being punished, yes, because she intentionally disrupted class. Probably was also belligerent about it. She was not suspended from school at all: it's in the article. This is indeed a BS story. Kids pull that 'bless you' thing in mass just to disrupt the class. This kid may have had an additional agenda regarding religion.

It's all very manipulative and a lot of BS--the girl, the press, the Christian outrage.

 

[The Irish Ram]

I thought the practice started during the black plague. Sneezing was a final symptom preceding death. Because the priests couldn't be every where needed to give last rights, they told people to bless them when the sneezing commenced, if the priests couldn't get there in time.

Regardless of it's etymology, instead of teaching children what vocabulary the teacher prefers, how about teaching them how to write God Bless You.......

 

[PostmodernProph]

Even though I consider saying "Bless you" after someone sneezes to be silliness, I find making a big deal out of it to the point of suspending a child from school to be the definition of asinine.

There is zero evidence she was "suspended". For that matter there is zero evidence the incident had anything to do with saying "bless you". This is a bullshit "story".

to be fair, there is evidence....you've just chosen not to believe it....

But based on other evidence...what the school has said...her statements do not seem reliable. And based on many cases of claimed religious intolerance by teachers, this one seems more likely to fall into the category of untrue.

I believe the most likely scenario is that the girl shouted or yelled or otherwise made some obnoxious point in her "Bless you" and it was the attitude and disrespect that got her sent to the office.

The in school suspension was normal procedure for being sent to the principal and not a direct consequence of her words.

you too have made a choice regarding which evidence you believe....

Hearsay is not "evidence". If you actually did spend time in court as you claim, you'd know that. Hell, journalists know that --- real journalists that is, not this malarkey --- which is why they always get another source to confirm if it's a straightforward event, and if there's another view, to get that for balance. This "story" has neither.

???....I do spend time in court....I am an attorney.....that is why I know first hand testimony is not hearsay......

 

[PostmodernProph]

Even though I consider saying "Bless you" after someone sneezes to be silliness, I find making a big deal out of it to the point of suspending a child from school to be the definition of asinine.

There is zero evidence she was "suspended". For that matter there is zero evidence the incident had anything to do with saying "bless you". This is a bullshit "story".

She wasn't suspended. She was removed from the class for the rest of the period. It is called in school suspension. She was being punished, yes, because she intentionally disrupted class. Probably was also belligerent about it. She was not suspended from school at all: it's in the article. This is indeed a BS story. Kids pull that 'bless you' thing in mass just to disrupt the class. This kid may have had an additional agenda regarding religion.

It's all very manipulative and a lot of BS--the girl, the press, the Christian outrage.

so, it's called suspension but its not suspension.....I understand now.....

 

[Delta4Embassy]

Heresay is repeating what someone else said.

Witness testimony is describing what you saw.

And I'm not an attorney, I just watch a lot of tv.

 

[Pogo]

Even though I consider saying "Bless you" after someone sneezes to be silliness, I find making a big deal out of it to the point of suspending a child from school to be the definition of asinine.

There is zero evidence she was "suspended". For that matter there is zero evidence the incident had anything to do with saying "bless you". This is a bullshit "story".

to be fair, there is evidence....you've just chosen not to believe it....

But based on other evidence...what the school has said...her statements do not seem reliable. And based on many cases of claimed religious intolerance by teachers, this one seems more likely to fall into the category of untrue.

I believe the most likely scenario is that the girl shouted or yelled or otherwise made some obnoxious point in her "Bless you" and it was the attitude and disrespect that got her sent to the office.

The in school suspension was normal procedure for being sent to the principal and not a direct consequence of her words.

you too have made a choice regarding which evidence you believe....

Hearsay is not "evidence". If you actually did spend time in court as you claim, you'd know that. Hell, journalists know that --- real journalists that is, not this malarkey --- which is why they always get another source to confirm if it's a straightforward event, and if there's another view, to get that for balance. This "story" has neither.

???....I do spend time in court....I am an attorney.....that is why I know first hand testimony is not hearsay......

A Nosebook post is "testimony" now? REALLY?

Diga me, where do you swear in on Nosebook? Somewhere you type in "I promise to post the truth, the whole truth and nothing about what color underwear I'm wearing, so help me lol"?

And what is Nosebook's remedy for perjury? Is there, like y'know, a deposition "app"?

 

[PostmodernProph]

Even though I consider saying "Bless you" after someone sneezes to be silliness, I find making a big deal out of it to the point of suspending a child from school to be the definition of asinine.

There is zero evidence she was "suspended". For that matter there is zero evidence the incident had anything to do with saying "bless you". This is a bullshit "story".

to be fair, there is evidence....you've just chosen not to believe it....

But based on other evidence...what the school has said...her statements do not seem reliable. And based on many cases of claimed religious intolerance by teachers, this one seems more likely to fall into the category of untrue.

I believe the most likely scenario is that the girl shouted or yelled or otherwise made some obnoxious point in her "Bless you" and it was the attitude and disrespect that got her sent to the office.

The in school suspension was normal procedure for being sent to the principal and not a direct consequence of her words.

you too have made a choice regarding which evidence you believe....

Hearsay is not "evidence". If you actually did spend time in court as you claim, you'd know that. Hell, journalists know that --- real journalists that is, not this malarkey --- which is why they always get another source to confirm if it's a straightforward event, and if there's another view, to get that for balance. This "story" has neither.

???....I do spend time in court....I am an attorney.....that is why I know first hand testimony is not hearsay......

A Nosebook post is "testimony" now? REALLY?

Diga me, where do you swear in on Nosebook? Somewhere you type in "I promise to post the truth, the whole truth and nothing about what color underwear I'm wearing, so help me lol"?

And what is Nosebook's remedy for perjury? Is there, like y'know, a deposition "app"?

sorry if you haven't followed the thread to this point....someone said there was zero evidence.....I responded that this wasn't true.....I said the girl's statements were evidence.....the fact that one of the ways that this was communicated was through "nosebook" (whatever that is) doesn't change the fact it was her statement....her statement never becomes hearsay......hearsay would be you testifying as to what she said, her teacher said, or the principal said....because you are not her, her teacher, or her principal....

the only ones who can give direct testimony as to what happened are her, the teacher, and the other students in the room at the time....

 

[Newby]

And btw since WGN is in Chicago (which is not in Tennessee), here's the page from WMC in Memphis where they got the story, complete with that station's "report". Notice once again that they describe the whole thing as "social media" story, that it's carefully worded to report not what happened but what the girl says happened, and that their sources consist entirely of the girl and her pastor -- and not a word from the school. Entirely from one side.

Wake UP folks. You're being played like a cheap banjo. TV "news" is not put there to disseminate the news. It's put there to sell soap.

Did you see the picture of the white board that listed words/phrases not acceptable in that classroom?

While you're in here accusing everyone of jumping to conclusions and believing everything they read, you're doing the exact same thing with your source being an atheist blog? And you consider yourself an intellectual? Or should I say, attempt to pass yourself off as one? Please, spare us the bullshit.

 

[Pogo]

And btw since WGN is in Chicago (which is not in Tennessee), here's the page from WMC in Memphis where they got the story, complete with that station's "report". Notice once again that they describe the whole thing as "social media" story, that it's carefully worded to report not what happened but what the girl says happened, and that their sources consist entirely of the girl and her pastor -- and not a word from the school. Entirely from one side.

Wake UP folks. You're being played like a cheap banjo. TV "news" is not put there to disseminate the news. It's put there to sell soap.

Did you see the picture of the white board that listed words/phrases not acceptable in that classroom?

While you're in here accusing everyone of jumping to conclusions and believing everything they read, you're doing the exact same thing with your source being an atheist blog? And you consider yourself an intellectual? Or should I say, attempt to pass yourself off as one? Please, spare us the bullshit.

Uh --- where did I ever say that, speaking of bullshit? Fabricate much?

Yes I saw the whiteboard and much more. I saw enough of the OP to tell me the title and its purported story reeks of bullshit, and I set forth to find out why -- which is the kind of vetting the OP should have done but failed to do. Part of what I posted was a reported conversation with the school prinicpal --- I found that site through a search on the terms, specifically the proper names, not "atheism", and I got that quote, which makes no conclusions about what went down, in fact the writer specifically noted he's in no position to know that.

And it's not an "atheist blog"; it's an atheist's blog. This particular article was not about atheism or about religion. No doubt the blogger looked into the story out of his interest in such matters (who else would be doing it? A plumber?) but he never made it about atheism or about religion. As he noted neither he nor we were there to hear the phrase, intonation, loudness, etc, so context is something we can imagine.

Unless we have more background, like this from the pastor's husband:

Rev. Winegardner suggests that the unnamed Dyer County High School teacher’s response to Kendra’s comment may have been due to feeling as if her authority was being openly challenged, rather than being wholly based on a religious issue.

According to Winegardner, this incident took place in a typing class wherein the teacher speaks commands and tries to get the students to get used to the keyboard.

“This may be more of a case of a teacher who required absolute silence and also had difficulty with words and phrases being used as well,” he said. “I know the media is trying hard to make this all about religion, but part of it is about how different teachers teach.” (here)​

As I said, all indications tell us this is about challenging authority -- not religion.

Now how is a Nosebook post, which has already been indicated above to be agenda-driven by the student herself, some kind of more credible source than a quote from the principal, the girl's pastor and her own agenda given in her press conference? Tell me, why would a genuine martyr be holding a press conference?

And do tell me what's 'credible' about taking sites that say "girl says she was suspended for saying 'bless you'" and morphing that into "girl WAS suspended for saying 'bless you'"? What kind of agenda do you suppose that is?

I'll enjoy those links when you can find 'em. Like you did last time.

Denialists...