This Mom Wants To Warn Parents About A Religious Group Holding Classes During Public School Hours

A mom warned other parents about a third-party religious organization that is holding classes during public school hours. After she refused to sign a permission slip for her kindergartener to participate in the classes, she says her daughter is now being “singled out.”

“No one prepared me for this. I was so excited for my daughter to start kindergarten. This is a journey. We're in it together, right? Until she comes home crying because I didn't sign the permission slip for a LifeWise Academy,” Amy Davis begins.

What is LifeWise Academy?

LifeWise Academy is a Christian nonprofit program based in Hilliard, Ohio, that offers Bible-based instruction to public school students during the school day. Yes, that’s right! Bible-based instruction during public school hours!

LifeWise gets away with this due to their “released time or release-time religious instruction” laws, which allow students to leave their public school campus for religious instruction during the school day, provided certain conditions are met.

To be legal, “released time” programs must generally meet these criteria: Classes occur off school property (e.g., in a church or other offsite location) and they also must be privately funded — i.e., no use of government or public school funds. Lastly, of course, parental permission is required for any student to attend.

According to their website, the LifeWise curriculum is done chronologically, guiding students through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation over multiple years. The curriculum focuses on Bible stories as well as on “character development, moral and spiritual growth, and Christian values.”

LifeWise says its materials are “plug-and-play,” designed to be used by church and community volunteers in partnership with schools. The curriculum was developed in conjunction with the Gospel Project, a Bible study plan produced by an entity of the Southern Baptist Convention, Penton said. Instructors are provided with guidance on how to respond to difficult questions, including about the afterlife and sex. LifeWise opposes same-sex marriage, as well as transgender and gender-fluid identities.

“Our guide helps classroom educators address these questions with compassion, humility and respect,” Penton said in a statement.

LifeWise programs are available at over 520 locations in 23 states, up from 331 in 13 states last year, and about 31,000 students attend LifeWise programs in the U.S., LifeWise founder and CEO Joel Penton told The Associated Press last year.

Penton wants LifeWise to be available to “50 million public school students nationwide,” he said.

So, you could argue that something like this is harmless, right? You need parent permission. The program is not in public school classrooms, but as Amy Davis will tell us in her video, it’s problematic for so many reasons.

“Apparently, my daughter is being singled out. She's being shamed for not going to the LifeWise Academy. Her kindergarten teacher is encouraging her to... I get a permission slip every single day. Two days ago, I sent her teacher a message. She has not responded,” she explained.

“Religion is very personal to me. Religion is something that me and her father will teach her. When I send my kid to public school, I do not want her to get Bible lessons. You're not allowed to teach my child very specific religious things. If you're going to teach her one religion, then teach her all the religions. Because in our home, in my life, I have the option. I will teach you about all the religions. In fact, let's compare all the different Bibles. Let's look at everything. And whatever you feel in your heart to be true, that is what you should follow. I'm never going to force religion on my kids.”

“They entice children with candy and bright T-shirts in order to indoctrinate them, and they specifically target non-religious poor children. They are targeting poor families and people who are not religious. Think about that for a minute. So now I have to get more involved. And I'm going to have to take it to the principal. And I'm going to have to show up at school board meetings. And I did not have this on my bingo card. So wish me luck,” she concluded.

Thankfully, several TikTok users had some sound advice.

“I’m just learning about LifeWise Academy. This sounds horrible. I’m so sorry,” one user wrote.

“DO NOT BACK DOWN. DO NOT LET THEM BULLY YOUR DAUGHTER INTO CROSSING YOUR BOUNDARIES,” another wrote.

Another said, “Look in to Freedom from Religion Foundation (ffrf.org). They do handle some church/state violations. I don't know how many they can handle each year.”

“Lifewise is a plague upon Ohio school children. I'm so glad you're holding strong! The social pressure they use is terrifying,” one user wrote.

One user wrote, “Im a teacher. Had to google life wise academy. Is this happening during the school day?! ?”

The OP replied, “yes, in Ohio kids that participate miss out on a variety of things usually recess, art/music sometimes lunch.”

So instead of learning about the arts and learning to play an instrument, LifeWise wants to take your kid physically out of school so they can read the Bible. Sounds perfect for this current administration, which has openly stated that it wants to protect prayer in schools.