Colorado middle schooler says she was barred from reading pro-life poem in class
A 13-year-old middle school student in Colorado was allegedly banned from reading a pro-life slam poem for an assignment because it was "too political."
"My teacher assigned an assignment in class to write a slam poem about conflict in the world that we are passionate about," the 13-year-old student at Drake Middle School, part of Jeffco Public Schools headquartered in Golden, Colorado, said in a video posted Tuesday on the conservative Libs of TikTok X account.
"I chose life," the student said. "I chose this topic because it's important to me and my family. In my poem, I met all of the criteria. I got reputable resources and I included everything that I needed in my poem, but when I asked my teacher if I could present it, she said no. This is why my mom had to step in."
The student's mother, who sat next to her daughter in the video, said that she immediately contacted her daughter’s teacher, who she says did not respond until the next day.
"They said that because of the offensive material in the poem, that they were not going to allow her to present, and I pushed back on them because not only were they presenting a lot of political material themselves, but they were presenting it as truth," the mother said. "They brought up issues like racial issues, they had LGBTQ rights, immigration."
The mother added, "To that, they said, ‘Sorry no, this is too political, we are not going to allow it’ and so here we are just telling our story."
The 13-year-old student then claimed her teacher initially told her she would not be allowed to remain in the room while her fellow students were presenting their poems, but later changed her mind.
"When I further asked my teacher about why I cannot present, she said that I would not be able to be even in the class while my fellow classmates are presenting their poems, and then I would have to sit outside, but when I further questioned her, she finally said that I could be in the class to listen," the student said.
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In another video posted Tuesday by Libs of TikTok, the mother said that her own mother got pregnant with her at 14 and chose to keep her.
"I wouldn't be here today if she lived in the climate that we live in now, because mostly people would say that she should have aborted me," the mother said.
"This shows why this topic is so very important to us," she added, "because there is hope in hard situations. There is purpose in pain. Good things come out of situations that seem bleak, and my family is proof of that."
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The girl read out her poem in another video that was shared by Libs of TikTok.
"They never get to see the light of day before they are cast away. They did nothing wrong except exist and were dismissed. People say women need healthcare but never think how unfair — they kill babies for simply being there," she says at one point in the poem.
It concludes, "A life is a life, no matter how small."
Fox News Digital reached out to Drake Middle School and Jeffco Public Schools for comment but did not immediately receive responses.