A Christchurch woman has lodged a complaint with the Human Rights Commission because she says her son was picked on for not taking part in religious instruction at his school.
Tanya Jacob wants the practice removed from all state schools, because she says it breaches human rights.
She says her seven-year-old son faced discrimination when she pulled him out of religious lessons at Harewood Primary.
"Kids are saying things like, 'You're going to hell. Why don't you believe in God?' And it goes on and on," says Ms Jacob. "While you may say that's bullying, it's a corrosive environment for children to be in."
Ms Jacob says initially the school ignored her request for her son to be removed from the weekly half-hour classes run by local churchgoers.
She says when she went to the board of trustees it allowed her son to do dishes while the other children took part in religious lessons.
"It became very upsetting for our children to go to school, particularly on Bible-in-schools day, and I'd have a very upset boy at the end of the day," she says.
Harewood School principal Julie Greenwood told RadioLIVE she doesn't believe there has been any discrimination.
"They may have done some jobs with their teacher during that time if there was just one child in the class," says Ms Greenwood. "What is in place now is that there is supervision in the library, which is for children who don't participate."
Ms Jacob pulled her kids out of Harewood School at the end of 2012, but she hasn't stopped there.
She has teamed up with the Secular Education Network, which is pushing to have religious instruction in state schools banned.
"That law that permits the Bible in schools is incompatible with the Human Rights Act," says David Hine from the Secular Education Network. "That's quite a complicated legal case. No local school is going to be able to do that kind of challenge, but together we think we can."
Mr Hine says he hopes the Human Rights Commission gets on board their campaign as well.
3 News
source: newshub archive
