Parents Protest Bible Giveaway Near Schools

Parents have flooded several local schools with complaints over an Orange County “blitz” by Gideon International to distribute Bibles this week to students outside school exits.

“These strangers are standing at the edge of our school grounds, stopping our children and talking to them after we’ve just gotten through warning them not to talk to strangers,” said Cindi Gross, who has two children at Westwood Basics Plus Elementary School. “This is not safe.”

But Irvine Unified School District Supt. Dennis Smith said his hands are tied.

“There’s little we can do legally as long as they are off school grounds,” Smith said. “If we thought there was a danger to students, we would take action and call the police.”

Gideon representative Guy Hallock, who distributed Bibles to students outside Venado Middle School in Irvine, said the organization plans to hit 40 schools throughout Orange County by the end of the week. It’s part of a “blitz” that occurs once every five years, he said.

“We’re not trying to solicit anything,” said Hallock, an Irvine resident. “We’re merely offering a copy of God’s word to these children.”

Hallock said Gideon representatives notify local police departments and school principals of their presence at local schools, and attempt to limit the distribution of Bibles to students in grade five or higher.

But Irvine parents say younger students were being given the Bibles.

Gross said the district should prohibit solicitations of any kind near schools.

“I don’t agree with people handing out any kind of religious materials to young children,” she said. “That’s to be done in the home.”