Daily Times;WASHINGTON – A seven-year-old Indiana student was “banished” from sitting with his classmates at lunch after stating that he did not believe in God, according to a lawsuit which claims the school violated the child’s First Amendment rights, Russia Today channel reported on Wednesday.

The suit – filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Indiana and obtained by the Washington Post – claims the punishment occurred after the student, named only as AB, told a classmate on the playground that he didn’t go to church and didn’t believe in God.

That child then started to cry, stating that AB had hurt her feelings by saying that he didn’t believe in God. The girl’s visible distress prompted a playground supervisor to report the incident to AB’s teacher, identified in the suit as Michelle Myer.

In response, Myer told AB that she was “very concerned” about what he had done, and said she was going to contact his mother. Myer forced the child to sit by himself at lunch for three days, and told him that he shouldn’t talk to the other students because he had offended them.

The lawsuit states that this was distressing to AB, as it implied that he had done something wrong by expressing his personal opinion. However, according to the suit, the hurt did not end there.

The matter was then sent to another adult employed at Forest Park Elementary School. Upon hearing the story, the adult reportedly told AB’s classmate that she should be “happy she has faith” and that she “should not listen to AB’s bad ideas.” She then patted the girl’s hand.

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