Tauntaun? And the title is misleading. He didn't get in trouble for drawing Jesus, he got in trouble for drawing DEAD Jesus, with X's in his eyes. But carry on with whatever sentiment the misleading title was supposed to convey.
Posted on 12/15/2009 6:50:21 AM PST by Alistair Stratford IV
Taunton second-grader suspended over drawing of Jesus
Father angered by forced psychological evaluation of boy, 8
By Gerry Tuoti, Staff Writer GateHouse News Service Posted Dec 14, 2009 @ 10:20 PM
Taunton —
A Taunton father is outraged after his 8-year-old son was sent home from school and required to undergo a psychological evaluation after drawing a stick-figure picture of Jesus Christ on the cross.
The father said he got a call earlier this month from Maxham Elementary School informing him that his son, a second-grade student, had created a violent drawing. The image in question depicted a crucified Jesus with Xs covering his eyes to signify that he had died on the cross. The boy wrote his name above the cross.
“As far as I’m concerned, they’re violating his religion,” the incredulous father said.
He requested that his name and his son’s name be withheld from publication to protect the boy.
The student drew the picture shortly after taking a family trip to see the Christmas display at the National Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette, a Christian retreat site in Attleboro. He made the drawing in class after his teacher asked the children to sketch something that reminded them of Christmas, the father said.
“I think what happened is that because he put Xs in the eyes of Jesus, the teacher was alarmed and they told the parents they thought it was violent,” said Toni Saunders, an educational consultant with the Associated Advocacy Center.
Saunders is working with the boy’s parents after a mutual acquaintance referred them to her.
“When I got that call, I was so appalled that I had to do something,” Saunders said.
“They weren’t looking at the fact that this is an 8-year-old child with special needs,” she added. “They made him leave school, and they recommended that a psychiatrist do an evaluation.”
The school, in fact, required the evaluation before the boy could return, the father said.
Maxham School principal Rebecca Couet referred all questions on the matter to the superintendent’s office.
Superintendent Julie Hackett said district policy prevents her from discussing a “confidential matter regarding a student.”
“Generally speaking, we have safety protocols in place,” Hackett said. “If a situation warrants it, we ask for outside safety evaluations if we have particular concerns about a child’s safety. We followed all the protocols in our system.”
Hackett refused to specifically discuss the student’s drawing or the school’s reaction to it.
The father was flabbergasted when he learned his son had to undergo an evaluation.
“When she told me he needed to be psychologically evaluated, I thought she was playing,” he said.
The man said his son, who gets specialized reading and speech instruction at school, has never shown any tendency toward violence.
“He’s never been suspended,” he said. “He’s 8 years old. They overreacted.”
The boy made the drawing and was sent home from school on Dec. 2. He went for the psychological evaluation — at his parents’ expense — the next day and was cleared to return to school the following Monday after the psychological evaluation found nothing to indicate that he posed a threat to himself or others.
The boy, however, was traumatized by the incident, which made going back to school very difficult, the father said. School administrators have approved the father’s request to have the boy transferred to another elementary school in the district.
This is not the first time in recent years that a Taunton student has been sent home over a drawing. In June 2008, fifth-grade student Cullen Smithson was suspended from Mulcahey Middle School for a day after creating a stick figure drawing that appeared to depict him shooting his teacher and a classmate.
The Mulcahey teacher also contacted the police to take out charges in the 2008 incident.
gtuoti@tauntongazette.com
The teacher needs evaluation, not the boy.
How is it possible that such a weirdo school can even be accredited? It should be closed, and the staff permanently unemployed.
Do kids still play that old word game Hangman, or does that get you expelled these days?
This teacher makes OBummer proud!
Eastern Mass. must raise stupid people.
But make sure you leave Jesus out, boys and girls.
This is how they make sissy boys.
I use to draw war pictures all the time.
We played army We also wrestle with each other
Sword fights with sticks
Did we hurt each other sometimes but that was part of going up!
Taunton, Massachusetts?
The kid needs a mega-lawyer and a big settlement.
Under no circumstances should anyone call
Couet, Rebecca
Position: Principal
508-821-1265
especially if one’s intention is to question the sanity of the “educators” of the Taunton, MA school district.
Tauntaun? And the title is misleading. He didn't get in trouble for drawing Jesus, he got in trouble for drawing DEAD Jesus, with X's in his eyes. But carry on with whatever sentiment the misleading title was supposed to convey.
Blood is shooting out of my eyes in disbelief ,,,, This is INSANE !!!!! If Jesus is against the law ,,, then pass a law outlawing Jesus ,,,, don’t play footsie ,,, pass a law ,,,, I DARE YOU school b@$+@rd$ !!! We already have a law to protect FREE SPEECH . Get over it !!!!
If the kid had drawn something Muslim, the teacher would have given him an A++ before turning the kid over to the local muzzies for a friendly beheading.
Taunton is a middle lower/middle class small city, they type that left/liberal teachers flock to work in then move to nicer areas (Easton, Bridgewater, Norton) to raise their own families. This is something I would hope local religious leaders would at least examine getting involved in.
Oh, wait.....I guess that was the problem now, wasn't it?! Te educators knew darned well the student drew a religious picture and not a violent picture. *sigh*
About 10 years ago I almost took a position teaching in that district.
FYI
IIRC, that was the whole point of His going to the cross.
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