Florida Student Censored From Saying 'God Bless America' During Morning Announcements

A Florida student was recently censored by school officials for saying "God Bless America" during morning announcements after an atheist group complained. 

The student reportedly added in the words "God Bless America" to a script for morning announcements at Yulee High School in the Nassau County School District.

"It wasn't part of the scripted morning announcements," district spokesperson Sharyl Wood told Fox News in a recent interview. "The principal took the appropriate steps in speaking with the student and disciplining the student."

Wood confirmed to Reuters that the student was not in fact disciplined, but was simply told not to "adlib" the morning announcements, but rather read from the script provided.

The school district had received a six-page letter from the American Humanist Association regarding the student's decision to say "God Bless America" during the morning announcements at Yulee High School.

"Students are certainly free to say 'God bless America' in their own personal context any time they want to," David Niose, the association's legal director, told Reuters. "But when we are talking about morning announcements, it is not a free speech forum."

The letter by the American Humanist Association added that it is "inappropriate and unlawful for a public school to start the school day with an official statement over the intercom stating, 'God Bless America,' for such a statement affirms God-belief, validates a theistic worldview and is invidious toward atheists and other nonbelievers."

After Fox News reported that the student delivering the morning announcements had been disciplined, Wood tells Reuters that some people even gathered in front of the school to protest for the student's freedom of religion rights.