A photo of children face down on the floor during a tornado drill is circulating online falsely claiming to show students being forced “to do Muslim prayers five times a day.”
“American middle-schools caught forcing students to do Muslim prayers 5 times a day,” says text over a photo of children lying downward on a floor with their hands over their head. Adults are pictured standing nearby.
The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)
The photo doesn’t show anyone “caught” or being forced to pray. All elements of the claim are wrong.
The image appears to be taken from a video of a news story about a tornado drill at an elementary school in Miamisburg, Ohio. WDTN, a news station in Ohio, published it on its YouTube page in April 2013.
“Walking single file, quite and calm, the hallway was lined with kids sitting hands over their heads as if it were the real thing,” a reporter says over video of kids walking out of their classroom and positioning themselves down on the floor.
“If we did have an actual tornado we need to practice for the little ones, just so they get used to the idea,” a teacher said on camera.
There is no mention of Islam or prayers in the news segment.
A photo does not show middle school students being forced to do Muslim prayers five times a time. That is a fabricated claim. We rate it Pants on Fire!
PolitiFact Rating: 
Truth-o-meter Ruling
Statement
"American middle schools caught forcing students to do Muslim prayers 5 times a day."
Context
a social media postSpeaker/Target
Statement Date
Our Sources
Pinterest, photo claiming to show middle school students praying
YouTube, WDTNTV post, published April 9, 2013
Translations
Language: en