faith in God,
Lydia Booth was a third grader in the Simpson County School District, Mississippi, United States, when she was prevented from wearing a face mask against Covid-19, with the words “Jesus loves me”, in October 2020.
The school had no objections to such an approach previously, other children also wore masks with different sayings. However, after Lydia had used her mask, it culminated in a determination that restricted the use of face masks with “political” or “religious” speech. Since then, Lydia has been surprised by the decision and reported feeling sad and confused.
“I chose [the mask] because it had my favourite words, ‘Jesus loves me,’ and it made me feel safe when I went to school,” said the student, adding that she wanted to share that message with other students.
After the determination, the family decided to sue the school and for several days Lydia was asked to remove her mask within the school environment.
Facing the lawsuit, according to Alliance Defending Freedom, last week, the school district reached an agreement with the family and scrapped the policy, which prohibited religious and political speech with masks inside the school.
And even though students are not currently required to wear masks in the school environment, the girl and her mother say they are glad they fought to change this policy.
“It’s about the little things, in everyday life; You don’t notice a change, but five years from now, you’ll look back and see how drastically everything has changed,” said Jennifer Booth, the girl’s mother.
Lydia celebrated by declaring that the change in policy means she can still share her faith in God with her peers and also wear the mask if she so chooses.
“If we have a belief, we have the right to share it”, highlighted the girl.
