Teacher Forces 4-Year-Old To Use His Right Hand Because Left-Handedness Is 'Evil'

The right hand is the hand of God and the left one — well, that one is in cahoots with Satan. That’s according to an Oklahoma teacher who should definitely not be left in charge of children. She actually sent home a letter telling a mom that her child can’t write with his left hand because left-handedness is evil.

Alisha Sands says it all started when her four-year-old son, Zayde, was doing his homework one night. He’s in his first year at Oakes Elementary and, according to Sands, has always been left-handed. That’s why she found it so odd that he was doing all of his writing assignments using only his right hand. She asked him why and says he held up his left hand and told her, “This one is bad.”

Sands sent a note to Zayde’s teacher thinking there had to be some plausible explanation for what was going on, but instead the teacher sent back a scathing article about how left-handedness is “evil,” “unlucky,” “sinister,” and associated with the devil — you know, all the responses you’d expect from a crazy person in a horror movie, rather than the person entrusted with your kid for seven hours a day.

Sands took the article to the superintendent and got basically no response. She told her local news station, “There was no suspension of any kind. There was basically nothing done to this teacher. She told them she thought I needed literature on it.” I don’t know that “literature” is the right word to describe random articles on the internet that say being left-handed makes you Satan’s minion. Either way, Zayde has been pulled out of school until they agree to transfer him to a new class. Sands also intends to file a complaint with the Oklahoma Board of Education.

As tempting as it is to make jokes, it’s a serious issue that this teacher finds it appropriate to bring her personal religious beliefs into the classroom. Equally disturbing is how poorly the whole thing was allegedly handled by the superintendent. This isn’t a teacher accidentally wishing someone a “Merry Christmas” or mentioning Halloween instead of calling it a “fall festival.” This lady is actually calling a kid evil and implying association with the devil — and she’s getting away with it.

The saddest part is that Zayde has no idea what any of this means. All he knows is that something that seems totally natural and normal makes him “bad” in the eyes of his teacher. That is not okay. The school board needs to address this, and until they do, Sands is absolutely right to raise hell about it. Teachers are free to believe whatever they want in their free time, but when you find yourself sending a note to a parent to inform them that their kid is evil, it’s probably time to find a new job.