3 Colorado Kids Suspended for Playing With Toys Guns During Virtual Class
Three Colorado children were suspended last week for playing with toy guns during their virtual classes.
According to FOX31, one of the incidents, involving two students, occurred in Colorado Springs, when Isaiah Elliot, 12, was taking an online art class for Grand Mountain School.
During the class, Elliot's teacher saw him move a black and green toy gun, bearing the words "Zombie Hunter," across the screen.
The teacher responded by notifying the school principal, who suspended Elliot for five days and by calling the El Paso County Sheriff's Office to check on the child.
Elliot's parents told the station that their son, who is Black and has ADHD, was "traumatized" by the cops' visit, stating that they feared for his life.
The station reports that a friend of Elliot's, who was in the room with him at the time of the class, also played with the toy gun. He, too, received a five-day suspension and a visit from law enforcement.
The school later released a statement about the incident, asserting that it was not racially motivated.
The second incident occurred in Golden, when Maddox Blow, 11, fiddled with his Airsoft gun during his online class with Bell Middle School.
According to FOX31, the incident got Blow suspended for four days. He also received a visit from the Wheat Ridge Police Department.
Blow told the station that he takes gun safety seriously and that he was only playing with the toy because he had finished a quiz early and thought his camera was off.
His father called the school's punishment a "gross overreaction."
However, a spokesperson for Jefferson County Public Schools said that the punishment was in line with the district's code of conduct.