If you visit almost any school across the country you can find various forms of religious expression from many different kinds of students. Even though the public school systems are supposed to abide by the law of separation of church and state, this normally does not mean that the students are forbidden to express their own religion through jewelry or even sometimes dress. But where should schools draw the line and should they be permitted to deem one religion as socially acceptable while another is not?
In a recent situation that took place in Cedar Lake, Indiana, this question abounds. A high school freshman from Hanover Central High School was sent home May 2nd for displaying a pentagram on her cheek. According to the family, their daughter has been a practicing Pagan for three to four year and was wearing the symbol in celebration of a religious holiday, Beltane.
Andy Pecenke, the teen’s father, said that he and his wife, as well as his daughter are all Pagan. “I’ve been a member of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids for 13 years,” Pecenke stated.
In the Pagan tradition May 1st, known as May Day to the world and Beltane to most Pagans and Wiccans, is a celebration of the move into summer and is normally seen as second in importance, with Samhain (Halloween) being first.
The pentagram in question was only approximately the size of a quarter and was worn on the teen’s upper cheek below her eye. So what was the reason for sending the teen home for wearing such a faithful display for her religion? “They told her it was too distracting,” Pencenke said. But “they don’t send kids home on Ash Wednesday,” Pencenke pointed out.
When Marilyn Kaper, the Vice President for the Hanover School Board was asked about the situation she stated that she could not comment because “I have no facts about this issue.” Apparently there will be no comments made because the school Superintendent, Michael Livovich Jr., was out of town on Tuesday. As of May 3rd, the Superintendent has denied that the school district was discriminating against Miss Pecenke for displaying her religious symbol. Livovich went on to state that really any student that would come to school with a religious symbol on their face and refuse to remove it would be sent home as well.
“We would never deny a child their religious expression,” Livovich said. “What she has become, however, is a distraction.”
As to why the school allows students to attend school with ash on their foreheads for Ash Wednesday, Livovich claimed that situation was entirely different. According to Livovich, he had done some research on Paganism and found no information stating that wearing a pentagram on the face is part of the tradition for May Day or Beltane.
If it was a part of her faith that everyone of her faith does this on May Day, then I would say our apologies to the child and the parent,” he said. “But that isn’t the case here.”
In response to the entire ordeal, Pencenke stated that, “If I get an apology from the school, I’ll be happy. It is discrimination and a violation of civil rights. If harassment continues, then I might have to take legal action. I would prefer to not go that route.”
Unfortunately, Miss Pecenke was sent home yet again today for displaying numerous pentagrams on her face. Something tells me this is far from over, so we’ll have to wait and see how this plays out in the future.
*Sources*
-NWI.com. URL: http://www.thetimesonline.com/articles/2007/05/02/news/top_news/docbc7884ea8431c2b8862572cf000590fa.txt . Csepiga, Melanie. 2007May2.
-Chicago Tribune Online. URL: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/indiana/chi-ap-in-paganstudent,1,7803795.story?ctrack=1&cset;=true . AP. 2007May2.
