"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 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."
With these words, Curtis Elliott, father of the suspended 12-year-old student, Isaiah Elliott, described an ordeal which has left his family reeling in fear and frustration.
It all started when young Isaiah briefly flashed a toy gun within the visual frame during his online junior high art class. A TOY GUN! — neon green, complete with orange tip and the words "Zombie Hunter" etched on the barrel.
Rather than questioning the child, or asking to speak to his parents, the teacher alerted a school admin, who in turn called the cops—CALLED THE COPS!—who then responded to the family's home.
The Elliotts subsequently learned that administrators of the Grand Mountain School in El Paso County, CO, had actually been recording the session—an act which many would find a grave invasion of privacy. The school refused to turn over the recording, instead opting to simply allow them to view the segment in question.
Isaiah's parents explained that the boy has both ADHD and various learning disabilities which sometimes cause him to fidget while trying to concentrate, a fact which they say the school was well aware. But disciplinary action was fast and furious.
The result was a 5 day suspension, and perhaps a lifetime of PTSD.
"For them to go as extreme as suspending him for five days, sending the police out, having the police threaten to press charges against him because they want to compare the virtual environment to the actual in-school environment is insane," said Dani Elliott, Isaiah's mother. ... "If her main concern was his safety, a two-minute phone call to me or my husband could easily have alleviated this whole situation to where I told them it was fake."
Understandably, the Elliotts say they are now looking for a private or charter school for Isaiah.
