A 6th grade student at The Star International Academy Charter School in Dearborn Heights says he got done with his school work and started to draw images from his favorite video game.
He says the next thing he knew, he was accused of being a threat to his school.
You can see the picture and images he says he was drawing from the X-Box game he plays called Battlefield 3 in the attached video. The picture featured guns and armed men.
“I heard that you can’t bring guns at school, but we haven’t been told we can’t draw stuff,” he said.
He says he never meant to threaten the school. He says he explained this to school leaders at his charter school and was told he isn’t wanted at that school anymore, to go home and not come back.
“I said for how long? They said, period. You have to find another school,” said Hang Nguyen, the student’s mother.
And that’s not all. He and his mom say the principal of the charter school allegedly printed out the information for the public school he would be accepted at based on his address. Going there would send the sixth grader, who admits he is academically struggling this year, from a charter school that is supposed to accept students as public schools do, to a public school mid-school year. It is not the most academically or financially efficient move with your tax dollars.
The student and his mom say they reached out to WXYZ to raise awareness of what they see as injustice.
“I just want my education back,” said the student.
When WXYZ called the school for comment, a spokesperson said the school can’t take anything that may be a threat lightly. The spokesperson denies the student and his parents were told to find a new school. The spokesperson says the student will get a hearing to determine a punishment and is not at this point expelled. The school’s leaders are looking into why the student and his parents were allegedly given a print out of the public school.
In the meantime- the student says he wants to warn other children- in these sensitive times- don’t draw pictures of any weapons at school.
“I didn’t know, but now I do. I will never ever do that again,” he said.
