(The Center Square) - A high school student was muted and kicked off while sharing his faith during a daily “social time” Zoom meeting, violating his First Amendment rights, according to a religious liberty legal group.
On Sept. 23, Zion Ramos, a junior at Arkansas Connections Academy, an online high school, shared how he was inspired by the memorial service for Charlie Kirk and started to share his faith for the next two minutes. The teacher, Kelsey Reid, then muted Ramos and removed him from the Zoom meeting.
Shortly after, First Liberty Institute, a religious liberty legal group, sent a demand letter to ARCA stating that these actions violated freedom of speech and religious expression.
During these “social time” sessions, students are encouraged to share things as long as they are not violent, vulgar or obscene.
First Liberty claims that other students at ARCA have been allowed to share topics, including personal relationships and LGBTQ-related issues, without being muted.
"We don’t know how long we have. One day, it’ll all be over. It may not be today, tomorrow, a month, or even years from now, but when our time is up, all we will have is eternity. And we only have two places to go: heaven or hell. And we need to decide where we want to spend it," Ramos shared with his classmates.
Reid later said she did not object to the content of the student's message but how he delivered it, noting the short session "does not allow all students to use Social Time as a speaking platform."
ARCA Executive Director Nicole Stephens told The Center Square that this situation is "concerning to our student, his family and our community." She said ARCA is committed to protecting students' rights.
“It is clear that this student should have had the opportunity to express his point of view, and we welcome the student to speak at an upcoming Social Time event,” Stephens said in a statement to The Center Square. “In addition, we are exploring training opportunities to help prepare all our educators with guidance on moderating student conversations. We will also be providing a timely response to the letter.”
First Liberty is demanding that the school allow the student to share his faith for three minutes during a future social time, promise not to censor religious expression and require school officials to complete religious liberty training.
“School officials cannot silence students who are sharing their faith with other students during social gatherings,” said Kayla Toney, counsel for First Liberty Institute. “Public schools are not religion-free zones, but by censoring faith on campus, officials unjustly marginalize students like Zion who simply want to share the Gospel with peers.”
"Esther is an education reporter for The Center Square. Please email her at ewickham@thecentersquare.com for tips or questions."
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