First Grader Suspended for Bringing Squirt Gun to School

Tawann Caskey did a terrible thing on Wednesday and now he’s paying the price. Tawann had the audacity to bring a gun to school.

But this story is quite different from the other "bringing a gun to school" stories that are becoming all too commonplace these days. Tawann is just six years old. Little Tawann is a first-grader at Milton Moore Elementary School in Kansas City, and the gun he brought to school was a 2-inch long red plastic squirt gun.

Danielle Womack, Tawann’s mother, was outraged to learn that her son was being suspended. She told the principal that her son’s suspension is ridiculous. "I asked her, ‘You’re going to suspend my son for 10 days for this? He cannot harm a soul with this," Womack said. "She told me it’s a weapon, a little girl saw it and reported to a teacher that he had a weapon."

The Kansas City School District said that the decision is all based on a strict policy, one that the school told parents and students about at the beginning of the school year. The policy prohibits any exceptions. According to the policy, the squirt gun is a simulated weapon, and a class IV, which is the most serious school offense. The incident will stay on Tawann’s permanent school record.

"We ask our principals for safety of students and staff, and we do follow the code of conduct and do not give exceptions to Class IV offenses. We take it very seriously," the school district’s Phyllis Budesheim told reporters. "We regret that this happened. My feeling is that by not giving any exceptions, this young man will not bring a toy gun to school again."

Womack said that her son does not understand why he’s not in school. "I think this could have been resolved in a different way. It’s wrong to bring it to school, but come on, he’s six years old!"

Children across the nation have been suspended or expelled just for having BBs, sharp pencils, and tiny GI Joe rifles, and even for just pointing their finger and saying "bang." What’s next? Strip searches and x-ray scanners in kindergarten?