Okay, the details of the article are pretty sketchy, so there's really not enough to form on opinion on the actions of the teacher. Let me say: if their version of events is true and the little darlings were truly punished because they respectfully and non-disruptively declined to kneel and pray to Allah (praised be his name), then I agree with all of the outrage coming from the .org's usual suspects.

However, let me just throw this out there for you. Since we don't have the teacher's version of events yet, might I submit that there is a distinct possibility that her story might go something like this: "I gave the little buggers detention not because they refused to take part in the demonstration prayer, but because they were being loud, disruptive, and making funny accents and fart noises in the back of the classroom while the rest of the class was trying to learn."

And is it then possible that when the little darlings were being taken to task by their parents for getting in trouble at school, the kids sold it to their doting parents as a religious freedom issue, rather than simply one of being an idiot in the classroom?

I'm just throwing that out there, from personal experience. When I was twelve, that was just the kind of behaviour I was capable of and quite often carried out.