A school in Colorado suspended a 12-year-old African American boy from school for five days and sent police to his home after a teacher saw a child «brandish» a toy gun during an online class.
The incident happened on the third day of school, August 27, when Isaiah Elliot, a seventh grader at Grand Mountain School in Colorado Springs, was in an online art class. His mother, Dani Elliot, told BuzzFeed News that at some point during the lesson, the boy took a neon green toy pistol and moved it from one place to another.
As Elliot explained, Isaiah often has trouble concentrating during class due to Attention Deficit Disorder known as ADHD. The woman stressed that the management of the educational institution is «well aware» of her son's diagnosis: in this regard, Isaiah is engaged in an individual curriculum.
However, at the end of the lesson, Elliot received an email from her art teacher, in which she wrote that Isaiah was «extremely distracted» during class — and also reported a «very serious problem with brandishing a toy gun.» After that, Dani also called the deputy head of the school, notifying that she had called the local sheriff's staff to the Elliot house: to check the boy's condition.
“Just an hour and a half after the email came, I learned that the police were coming to our house,” the woman recalls.
«It never occurred to me that anyone would consider the toys in our home a real threat.»
Isaiah's suspension letter sent to BuzzFeed News by Elliot said that he was guilty of «conduct on or off school property that damages the welfare, safety, or morale of other students and school staff.»
Elliot added that the text of the notice was worded in such a way that it felt like Isaiah had brought the gun to school and was deliberately showing it to classmates.
Although the suspension has already ended and Isaiah can resume classes, Dani says that she does not intend to return her son to school — and is currently looking for a new educational institution for him.
“Parents of African American children are doing everything they can to protect them and ensure their future — given the kind of discrimination and the challenges we all face. — notes the woman — I was lucky that everything turned out this way and not otherwise, and my son is still here with me. »
