The criticisms that can be made about the current public school system are endless.
It’s tough for parents, who obviously aren’t present at the school, and worry about what teachers are actually teaching their kids.
Apparently though, virtual school isn’t much better, as now teachers can overstep so far as to invade the boundaries a child’s home life.
That’s exactly what happened to 12-year-old Isaiah Elliott, a seventh-grade student in Colorado Springs.
Isaiah was attending his third day of virtual learning at Grand Mountain School from the comfort of his own home, when a teacher noticed Isaiah playing with a neon green toy gun.
The teacher told the vice principle, who called the cops to Isaiah’s home for a “wellness check.”
Heaven forbid the liberal school system allow a middle school boy to act like a boy within the comforts of his own home.
Now Isaiah’s family, who feel the school crossed a line, is looking to move the boy to a charter or private school.
Fox News has more on this rediculous story:
A 12-year-old boy in Colorado got a five-day suspension for flashing a toy gun across his computer screen during an online art class, according to a report.
The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office said although the teacher thought it was a toy gun authorities still did a welfare check on Isaiah Elliott without parental notification.
“It was really frightening and upsetting for me as a parent, especially as the parent of an African-American young man, especially given what’s going on in our country right now,” Curtis Elliott, Isaiah’s father, told KDVR.
He said his son, who has been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and has learning disabilities, wasn’t aware the gun was shown on screen in his distance learning.
“He was in tears when the cops came. He was just in tears. He was scared. We all were scared. I literally was scared for his life,” said Curtis Elliott.
“The virtual setting is not the same as the school setting,” the dad added. “He did not take the toy gun to school. He’s in the comfort of his own home. It’s a toy.”
The toy gun was neon green and black with an orange tip featuring the words on the handle: “Zombie Hunter.”
Reports said the school district, the Widefield District #3, refused to give the Elliott family the recording of the online class, but authorities showed the family a video of the class from a recording from a police body camera.
The New York Post has more on Isaiah and his family's reaction to the school's actions:
“I didn’t know what was going to happen. I didn’t know if they were going to bust down the door,” Elliott told the outlet. “My heart was beating super fast.”
Elliott, who has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, said that he was just trying to move the toy when he inadvertently flashed it across the screen.
“I didn’t mean to put it across the camera or anything,” he said. “I just wanted to move it across the couch.”
His father, Curtis Elliott, agreed that school officials have to understand that the virtual classes necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic have brought teachers into students’ homes, where expectations must be different from classrooms.
“The virtual setting is not the same as the school setting,” he said. “He did not take the toy gun to school. He’s in the comfort of his own home. It’s a toy.”
The dad added that he was particularly afraid for his son as a young black boy growing up in America.
“It was really frightening and upsetting for me as a parent, especially as the parent of an African-American young man, especially given what’s going on in our country right now,” he told KDVR. “I literally was scared for his life.”
Dani Elliott voiced similar fears.
“This could potentially impact his future. … Look at everything that’s going on in the world today,” she told BuzzFeed News. “God forbid something happens to my son down the road, people could look at this and decide he doesn’t deserve justice. I know that sounds extreme. … It’s a very real reality for us.”
The teacher and the school clearly overreacted here, as well as overstepped their bounds.
Now this boy and his family have to deal with the consequences of those actions.
This should not have happened.
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