Baltimore, MD – A 7-year-old Park Elementary School student has been penalized with a two day suspension for fashioning his breakfast pastry into what his teacher alleges resembled a gun.
The second-grader, Josh Welch, was suspended after eating away at a strawberry tart in such way to lead his teacher to think it was meant to appear like a gun. Josh claims he was simply devouring the pastry, and his intention was to shape it more like a mountain. Josh said his teacher was visibly upset when she noticed the odd shaped pastry.
The disruption led to the child’s father being called by the school and the subsequent punishment, according to Fox News . Josh’s dad has referred to the incident as “insanity.”
Josh suffers from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). ADHD is a behavioral disorder, more common in boys than girls. The condition is associated with inattentiveness, hyperactivity, and impulsivity.
A letter was sent home with the students detailing how a “student used food to make an inappropriate gesture.”
Due to privacy concerns the school refuses to comment.
This is not the first case of a child being penalized for allegedly mimicking weaponry in Maryland. In December a 6-year-old first-grade student at Roscoe Nix Elementary School in Silver Spring, Maryland was suspended for forming a gun-like gesture with his fingers, pointing it at another student, and saying “Pow.”
School administrators called the action a “serious incident” in a disciplinary letter, and suspended the child for a day. His punishment was later withdrawn by school board officials.
Do you think the teacher and the school overreacted over Josh’s strawberry pastry? Is it possible the teacher simply projected a mistaken perception? Should we expect a 7-year-old to understand that it is inappropriate to chew one’s food into a weapon-likeness?
[Image via Shutterstock ]
