Parents Upset With Missouri School For Banning Boy's Bible

Parents of a middle school student in Marshall, Missouri are upset after their son's teacher reportedly banned him from reading his Bible in class.

The parents of Loyal Grandstaff, a 12-year-old student at Bueker Middle School in Marshall, are accusing his teacher and the school of violating student's First Amendment rights by reportedly banning Grandstaff from reading his Bible in class.

The 12-year-old boy argues that he wasn't reading the Bible aloud or sharing it with his fellow classmates when he was told he cannot read the Holy Book during class time.

"I like to read my Bible because it's a good book," Loyal told the local Fox 4 News Channel.

"I was just reading, just reading because I had free time. A time to do what I wanted to, so I just broke it out and read," he explained.

The boy has added that he is now reportedly intimidated to read his Bible in class or on school grounds because he was chastised by his teacher.

Lance Tobin, the principal of the middle school, told the local media outlet that although Bibles are not banned at the school, he needs to investigate the incident further to determine if Grandstaff's constitutional freedoms to religion were actually violated.

A similar incident happened in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida back in May, when another 12-year-old student, Giovanni Rubeo, was banned from reading his Bible during the school's Accelerated Reader class time. After receiving a letter from the Liberty Institute in defense of Rubeo's rights, the school decided to allow Bibles during the Accelerated Reader portion of class.