First, I am an atheist and so is my husband, and our 8 year old son is taught religion in a school since it is mandatory for all students, we didn't object because we thought that we could tell him about the "fallacies" later when he grows up to become a teenager.
But he didn't need us for that and during a class in which the teacher was explaining how "kind" and "merciful" God is, my son raised questions and then making the conclusion that God is not at all merciful, leading the teacher (who is extremely religious) to angrily go over to the seat of my son, grab him by the shoulders and slap him furiously TWICE.
The teacher then accused us of "degrading" his mind and that it is "not normal for such a young boy to naturally behave in such a way, unless he has been taught to do so", when we haven't done nothing. My son has never used a computer so he did not get the ideas from the internet, and he has no friends in the class as he's very introverted and usually extremely quiet. And I do understand that perhaps his words may have been inappropriate, but for the teacher to just abuse him like that is totally unacceptable.
We argued with the teacher since I was very angry, and the principal intervened to let it go and advised us to correctly teach him the Bible and to teach him some "manners as well". This ofcourse came to us as extremely offensive, why should I teach him the Bible? The school is entirely on the teacher's side, and I feel that the teacher will continue to misbehave with my son. And I think we should report him to the police for this. But...would it be right to do so? Are we just really making a big deal out of this? What if the teachers behave rudely or just don't give enough attention to my son after this, should I say something to them?
I must also stress that we cannot take him out from the school since we live and work in a very small town distanced away from the city, and there's only one elementary school here.