While I was attending a professional development workshop for nearly two-hundred teachers several weeks ago, a particularly confusing comment caught my attention. The topic was bullying—how to spot it, prevent it, and deal with it. In one example, the bullying was based on religion. The facilitator discussed how to manage such a situation, and then concluded by reminding us all that, “the religious aspect of the bullying should not be something we address head on. After all, we have separation of Church and state in our schools.”
I was shocked by the two hundred teachers nodding along as if this comment itself were so obviously factual. “No religion talk, please,” seemed to be the assumption—apparently even when it comes to addressing bullying.
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