Schools Trying To Claim Authority In Home Via Virtual Learning After Police Called Over Toy Gun
Now that schools have decided to go virtual they are trying to claim authority in people’s homes.
A Colorado school district is finding itself in hot water after suspending a 12-year-old boy for having a toy gun in his home.
Local station KDVR reported that the student, Isaiah, was given a five-day suspension after a teacher saw him holding a toy gun during a virtual art class last month.
The toy gun in question was black and green with an orange tip with and had the words “Zombie Hunter” written on the side. The boy was sitting on his couch when he quickly moved it from one side to the other.
“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,” Isaiah’s mother, Dani Elliott, told the station.
“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,” Curtis Elliott also said.
When the gun was seen the teacher notified the school’s principal who suspended Isaiah for five days and called the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office for a welfare check.
“I didn’t know what was going to happen. I didn’t know if they were going to bust down the door,” said Isaiah. “My heart was beating super fast.”
“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,” said Isaiah’s father, Curtis Elliott.
The sheriff’s department confirmed that the teacher believed the gun was a toy.
“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,” said Dani.
The Elliott’s said that they were unaware that the school was recording virtual classes and the school district refused to give them a copy of the video when they requested it.
The school district has refused to do any interviews but responded by email to FOX 31:
“Privacy laws prevent us from sharing students’ personal information which includes disciplinary action,” the statement reads. “We follow all school board policies whether we are in-person learning or distance learning. We take the safety of all our students and staff very seriously. Safety is always our number one priority.”
The school district has acknowledged that they have recorded Isaiah Elliot’s virtual class without parental permission.
Not only is the school district trying to assert authority in a persons private home they recording people without their permission.