Girls sleep on the floor of a classroom in a United Nations-run school hosting internally displaced Palestinians
Girls sleep on the floor of a classroom in a United Nations-run school hosting internally displaced Palestinians, in Gaza City, August 8, 2014. Israel launched air strikes across the Gaza Strip on Friday in response to Palestinian rockets after Egyptian-mediated talks failed to extend a 72-hour truce in a month-long war. REUTERS/Siegfried Modola

A young student was suspended from school after saying "bless you" to a classmate's sneeze.

Kendra Turner, a senior of Dyer County High School, was suspended as she said "bless you" to her friend who had sneezed. According to her, her teacher said that such practices were only meant for churches. Turner apparently broke a rule in the class and was suspended. "She said that we're not going to have godly speaking in her class and that's when I said we have a constitutional right," the young girl said.

According to Turner, it was her religious belief that she was following when she said "bless you." However, her arguments did not impress her teacher who sent her to see higher authorities of her school for the apparent offence she had committed. Later, Turner faced in-school suspension for her conduct. Turner's teacher reportedly made rules in the class not to use certain expressions in the class. The banned words include "boring," my bad," "I don't know" and "bless you."

Becky Winegardner, the youth pastor of Turner, had a discussion over the incident at church. Winegardner said that there were several complaints against the teacher who allegedly showed disregard to the religious beliefs of many a student. "There were several students that were talking about this particular faculty member there that was very demeaning to them in regard to their faith," Winegardner said.

According to Turner's parents, the school leaders said that their daughter saying "bless you" was a distraction in the classroom. The parents also said that the teacher claimed that Turner had been aggressive and disruptive in the class. Turner, on the other hand, said that she would not like her teacher to get into trouble. She, nevertheless, wants to stand up for her religious beliefs, she said. "It's alright to defend God and it's our constitutional right because we have a freedom of religion and freedom of speech," said Turner.

Some of the classmates of Turner showed support for her by wearing shirts that read "bless you."

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Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@ibtimes.com.au