About 500,000 public school students from all 50 states joined Focus on the Family’s Bring Your Bible to School movement on Thursday, Oct. 5, participating in the fourth annual student-led religious freedom event.
Many Christian students feel there’s an unspoken pressure to stay silent about their faith. Others report overt efforts to silence them from presenting their Bible-based viewpoints in class discussions or assignments. Yet, the First Amendment recognizes the rights of students to talk about their faith and read their Bibles outside of classroom time.
“Over the years we’ve heard from many kids and teens who want to meaningfully engage in conversations with peers to share their perspective on important issues,” said Focus on the Family President Jim Daly. “The good news is—they can. The Constitution recognizes students’ rights to share their Biblical viewpoints in a way that doesn’t disturb instruction time, and to exercise their faith at school. ‘Bring Your Bible to School Day’ celebrates these rights and gives Christian students a chance to share a bit about their faith, which is an important part of who they are.”
“Bring Your Bible to School Day” has grown since it first started in 2014 with 8,000 students to an estimated 356,000 students last year. It’s also garnered the attention of Christian influencers like the award-winning band Newsboys and Sadie Robertson of Duck Dynasty.
Alliance Defending Freedom is again offering students free legal representation if their rights are violated at school. Focus on the Family may sponsor the event—but it’s children and teens who lead it.