Teacher scolds girl, 5, for talking about Jesus while mother is investigated for prayer request

A five-year-old girl from Devon was left in tears after her teacher reprimanded her for talking about Jesus in class – and her mummy could be facing the sack. The girl’s mother, who works part-time at the school, is being investigated by governors because she emailed friends at church asking them to pray about her daughter’s situation.

Mrs Jennie Cain is being supported by The Christian Institute’s legal defence fund.

The head teacher at the school, Mr Gary Read, learnt about the prayer request after he got hold of a private email sent by Mrs Cain from home using her personal email account. He would not tell the 38-year-old mother of two how he got a copy of her personal email, but he told her she was being investigated for misconduct.

The bizarre chain of events started on 22 January when Mrs Cain went to pick up her children from the 275-strong Landscore Primary School in Crediton, Devon. Mrs Cain’s five-year-old daughter, Jasmine, burst into tears telling her mother that she had been told off by her teacher for talking about God and Heaven and had been warned not to talk about Jesus again.

The following weekend Mrs Cain sent an email to ten close church friends, asking them to pray about the situation. The email somehow ended up in the head teacher’s hands, and he has launched an investigation against Mrs Cain. She has been told the investigation could result in disciplinary action, including dismissal.

The Christian Institute’s Mike Judge said: “I thought I had heard it all when I learned a nurse had been suspended for offering to pray for a patient. But now a five-year-old girl and her mother have been slammed for nothing more than expressing their Christian faith. I am particularly concerned about the way in which Mrs Cain’s private email to her church friends ended up in the hands of the head teacher. This is the latest in a series of cases where Christians are being persecuted for their religious beliefs. It is really getting to a point where it has to stop.”

Various pictures of Jennie Cain may be downloaded at: https://www.christian.org.uk/cainimages.htm

More background at https://www.christian.org.uk