Columbus school district bans candy bribes used to lure kids to Bible classes
The Columbus City School District in Ohio adopted a new policy to crack down on religious groups using treats to entice students to attend meetings
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An Ohio school district has revised its policy allowing students to legally skip school in order to take Bible indoctrination classes to say that the groups running those classes cannot give students candies and toys to help lure their classmates to the religious lessons.
All of this is happening just as Ohio institutes a new law requiring all districts to have some kind of religious “released time” policy.
If you’ve heard anything about “released time,” it probably centers around a Christian ministry called LifeWise Academy, which offers Bible classes that students are meant to take during the school day. LifeWise takes care of the curriculum, staff, and background checks; local chapters (usually churches) can tap into the network for use in their own local public school districts. Students then go to those churches during the school day, get their dose of biblical indoctrination, then return to school for the rest of the afternoon.
Technically, “released time” policies are religiously neutral. Any organization is allowed to offer these classes to students. Parents have to opt in to letting their kids participate. No school funds are used for them. For example, if students are transported to a local church for these lessons, the church has to pay for the buses. Students also have to make up any missed assignments. They also can’t skip certain core classes, like English or math.
NBC News reported in March of 2024 that LifeWise now has chapters in “more than 300 schools in a dozen states, teaching 35,000 public school students.” (A different article from July said it was 525 schools in 23 states.)
The program was so disruptive that, last year, the Westerville City Schools announced it would get rid of its “released time” policy entirely. The Worthington City Schools did the same thing. That infuriated Republicans so much that they decided to pass a law requiring schools to adopt “released time.”
Earlier this year, Gov. Mike DeWine signed into law House Bill 8, a Republican-backed bill known as the “Parents’ Bill of Rights.” It goes into effect on April 9. While most of the bill deals with sex education and LGBTQ issues—not in good ways, naturally—there’s a one-word change in the law regarding “released time” policies: Instead of allowing school districts to offer that time, the law will now force them to offer it.
So if a school district wasn’t allowing “released time” before, they have to now. And that’s a huge gift to Christian Nationalists because it’s usually evangelical/Catholic churches that have the resources to offer these courses and pay for the costs associated with them.
In the past, I’ve mentioned the practical problems with all this.
Students who skip class for these church lessons—especially if they leave the same class each time—will likely be academically behind their peers, even if they’re skipping an elective. “Released time” also makes life harder for teachers who may have to catch students up on lessons they may have missed so that they can make sense of what’s happening when they’re actually in the classroom—it’s the same reason a field trip for one subject can have ripple effects on so many other teachers. And while students can’t skip certain required classes, they are able to skip art, music, or gym… which implies that those subjects (and those teachers) aren’t as important for their development.
The biggest concern, however, may be the peer pressure. If your friends are taking a Bible course, and getting prizes and candy while they’re there, you’re going to want to go, too. That’s not illegal, but it’s another strain on families who are religious minorities. It’s bad enough to consider a scenario where only Muslim or Jewish students are sitting in class because their Christian peers have gone off to church. It’s even worse when those kids decide they want to take the classes—and beg their parents to allow them to go—because their classmates are returning to school with mini bribes.
It’s that concern that led the Columbus City School District to change its own policy.
For nearly a decade, the district has allowed students to attend religious classes during the school day. But since they already have to modify their policy to say schools have to let kids do this, in accordance with the new law, they’re fixing a few other things as well… and one of them is trying to eliminate the element of peer pressure.
The revised policy, which was approved by a unanimous vote, now includes this passage:
Any private entity providing religious instruction during the school day must agree that it will not provide participating students with any materials, snacks, clothing, candies, trinkets, or other items for their return to school. The District will not release students for religious instruction release time to any private provider that fails to adhere to this prohibition.
In short, religious groups hosting these indoctrination sessions cannot give kids anything that could help them entice their classmates to join the club. No food, no toys, no clothes, nothing.
When a board member explained the reasoning behind this change, she didn’t make the analogy to a creepy dude in a white van telling children he has free puppies for them if they come inside… but she sure as hell implied it.
“Out of concern for coming back with a pile of gifts from the sponsoring entity and how that could be disruptive to the classrooms and the educational experience, we did opt to include that language,” said board member Sarah Ingles, chair of the board’s policy and governance committee.
Disruptive. Coercive. Same idea.
A parent who helps run a group warning schools about the dangers of LifeWise celebrated the change:
Molly Ann Gaines, a leader with the Secular Education Association (previously Parents Against LifeWise), celebrated the district’s decision.
“Not being permitted to send back treats or trinkets is an important step, we believe it should apply to every school LifeWise is in,” Gaines said. “This weakens their ability to coerce nonparticipating children. It’s a matter of protecting all students from unnecessary division and the feeling of being left out.”
LifeWise said the change wouldn’t have an effect on what they do, which is what you’d expect them to say, but you have to believe they’re disappointed that their greatest marketers—the kids in their classes—no longer have these weapons at their disposal.
Every single school district in Ohio should adopt a similar policy. If public schools are required to accommodate religious conservatives, the least they can do is make it harder for them to recruit fresh meat by using students as target practice.
Is the Christian messaging truly so weak that xtians have to stoop to bribing childen?
Puny god.
Religious release time is mandatory because the churches have completely failed at getting their message out? Any child or parent who really wants religious indoctrination can easily get it, and there is no need for the State to be facilitating religion. Good that churches cannot lure kids in with treats, but this is lousy legislation all the way around.