Anthony
Super Moderator
An 8-year-old Florida boy was issued a one-day suspension from school for pretending to use his finger as a make-believe gun.
According to a school representative the student was playing cops and robbers with another pupil when he used his thumb and index fingers to pretend it was a gun
The mother of 8-year-old Jordan Bennett says her son was only playing with his friends and she believes the punishment is too harsh.
“There was nothing in his hand,†Bennett said. “He used his thumb and index finger. It was a game. He made no threatening advances or threats to harm anyone. No words were said.â€
Bennett said she is planning to fight the suspension and wants it removed from her son’s record.
“I’m prepared to go to court if I have to because this is wrong,†Bennett said. “It’s wrong for my son and any other child if they’re faced with the same thing because of a game.â€
Bennett feels the school should have punished him some other way. "A written apology," she said. "If he would have written an essay about why it was inappropriate, what he did, that would have made more of an impact."
She thinks the suspension will have her son classified as a “violent offender.â€
“They took a child that has never been in trouble before and went to the extreme,†the mother continued. “A child that has no history of violence is now classified as a violent offender.â€
A school representative declined to comment on specifics of the case, but they said the boy’s actions violated the code of student conduct.
According to a school representative the student was playing cops and robbers with another pupil when he used his thumb and index fingers to pretend it was a gun
The mother of 8-year-old Jordan Bennett says her son was only playing with his friends and she believes the punishment is too harsh.
“There was nothing in his hand,†Bennett said. “He used his thumb and index finger. It was a game. He made no threatening advances or threats to harm anyone. No words were said.â€
Bennett said she is planning to fight the suspension and wants it removed from her son’s record.
“I’m prepared to go to court if I have to because this is wrong,†Bennett said. “It’s wrong for my son and any other child if they’re faced with the same thing because of a game.â€
Bennett feels the school should have punished him some other way. "A written apology," she said. "If he would have written an essay about why it was inappropriate, what he did, that would have made more of an impact."
She thinks the suspension will have her son classified as a “violent offender.â€
“They took a child that has never been in trouble before and went to the extreme,†the mother continued. “A child that has no history of violence is now classified as a violent offender.â€
A school representative declined to comment on specifics of the case, but they said the boy’s actions violated the code of student conduct.
