Boys Suspended For Playing Cops And Robbers At Recess

Two school boys were suspended from school for playing cops and robbers during recess after teachers found them using their fingers to represent guns.

The incident happened at White Marsh Elementary in Talbot County, Maryland. The 6-year-old boys were suspended when teachers saw them playing cops and robbers, and they were both kept out of school for a day, WBAL reported.

The suspension has many parents at the school upset, CBS Baltimore reported.

“It’s ridiculous,” said parent Julia Merchant.

The father of one of the boys suspended for playing cops and robbers — a father who happens to be enlisted in the Army — said he thinks the punishment is a little harsh for essentially doing what young boys always do. School officials said they could not comment on the case.

This is the second time in less than a month that a Maryland child was suspended for using their finger as a gun. A similar case happened in Montgomery County when 6-year-old Rodney Lynch was suspended for pretending to fire an imaginary gun more than once.

“Just pointing your fingers like this and then she did the pow sound and I just went like that and then I got sent to the office again,” Lynch said.

CBS Baltimore spoke to child psychologist Dr. Joe Kaine, who said that most 6-year-olds’ mind are developed enough to understand why their imaginary gun play makes adults upset.

“I can certainly appreciate that at school, that’s not a type of play that they are going to endorse and I certainly support that, but that’s where we educate the time and place for doing things,” Kaine said.

The story at White Marsh Elementary School at least has a happy ending — a mother of one of the boys suspended for playing cops and robbers said she met with the school’s principal, who agreed to lift the suspension.