A shocking development took place in an Arizona school as a teacher reportedly dressed up as Satan and told students, “Hail Satan.” The story was relayed to a parent by a student of the school, and then the story was picked up by a local news outlet that then ran the story. Now, the teacher is staring at a school enforcement leave for their reported actions.
12News identified the student who rang the alarm bells about the teacher’s inappropriate costume and role-play. Nathaniel Hamlet described the situation, saying that the teacher wore devil horns and carried a pitchfork. The teacher was said to have been waving the pitchfork at students as they declared, “Hail Satan.”
Some students, according to Hamlet, were not phased at all by the satanic costume set before them. He said, “Some people thought it was funny, some people didn’t like it, some people were like ‘whatever,’ they just blew it off.”
Hamlet, however, found that the costume gave him serious discomfort as a person of Faith. He felt that it was not right to have a teaching professional parading around the school in an outfit meant to portray the devil, so he spoke up. He said, “I said, ‘Don’t do that to me’ and I pushed [the pitchfork] away, maybe three or four times and he still said it and still did it.”
That makes the story take on a whole new perspective, as Hamlet makes it clear that he is not enjoying the outward display of devilish behavior. Coming from a teacher, it is shocking that the actions weren’t ended after the very first “no” from a student. To continue to push on is clearly out of line.
The boy’s father, Chris Hamlet, also shared his thoughts on the situation, saying, “I was livid because I am a Christian as well, obviously. What really tipped it over for me is, he kept telling him no, and he and the teacher kept persisting.”
As the Hamlets mulled over what a fair punishment may be for this outlandish costume, Chris made himself very clear. If others are going to try to police the sharing of the Christian faith in schools, he is going to make darn sure to police anti-Christian narratives just as hard. He said, “If you’re gonna keep the Christian stuff out, then you got to keep the devil-worshiping stuff out, period.”
The teacher, who was yet to be named, also spoke to local news outlet 12News in defense of themselves. The teacher claimed that the costume was purely worn in jest, a playful attire for the school’s Halloween spirit day. They claim that there were no messages, either hidden or overt, that were supposed to be passed onto the student through the costume or the role-playing.
The teacher said, “Participating in spirit weeks like this is a way for me to engage with my students and bring fun to my classroom. It’s truly not any more complicated than that.”
