Teacher punishes student for 'bless you'

SACRAMENTO (KABC) -- There's controversy at a high school near Sacramento after a teacher punished a student for saying "bless you."

A health teacher in Vacaville knocked 25 points from one student's grade for saying "bless you" when another student sneezed in class.

The teacher said his policy has nothing to do with religion - he just doesn't want class time to be disrupted.

"When you sneeze in the old days, they thought you were dispelling evil spirits out of your body. So they were saying, 'God bless you' for getting rid of evil spirits. But today, I said, what you're doing doesn't really make any sense anymore," said teacher Steve Cuckovich.

The school said it doesn't condone the punishment, and many parents agree, saying the teacher doesn't have the right to impose his beliefs on other people.

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