Students in Steve Cuckovich's health class at William C. Wood High School in Vacaville, California, may face punishment if they dare to utter "God bless you" after a fellow classmate sneezes.
Those who utter the phrase in his class would see 25 points from their grade.
"You know we're Catholic. We're supposed to say, you know, your religion," a student from Will C. Wood High School told Sacramento's Fox 40.
"It's respectful to say bless you," another student said.
But Cuckovich says the practice is disrespectful and disruptive.
"When you sneezed in the old days, they thought you were dispelling evil spirits out of your body," he said. "So they were saying, 'god bless you' for getting rid of evil spirits. But today, I said what you're doing doesn't really make any sense anymore."
Cuckovich said that punishing students who utter the phrase has nothing to do with religion.
Parents, however, are ourtraged, saying that Cuckovich is imposing his beliefs on the students.
Parent Alan Johnson called Cuckovich's move "ridiculous."
"First, the Pledge of Allegiance. Now, preventing a kid from saying, 'Bless You?'"
"Everybody has their right to their own beliefs," Johnson added.
"But they don't have rights to impose those beliefs on other people, especially not school children."
ABC affiliate KSFN reported:
After parents complained about students losing points for saying "bless you", Cuckovich says he decided to stop the practice.
Instead, he said he would simply find another way to punish those who use the phrase.
Perhaps he can install some medieval torture devices for those who say "God bless you."
Billy Hallowell of The Blaze adds:
Interestingly, a Twitter account registered to a “Steve Cuckovich,” with a bio that reads, “High school teacher, father of three w/two grandkids and one on the way,” sent two tweets to leftist intellectual Cornel West’s Twitter account in the past.
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