Thirteen-year-old Ethan Chaplin was suspended for two days and had to undergo a psychological evaluation after another student complained that he was “twirling a pencil” like a gun. Chaplin said he was “just twisting around a pencil with a pen cap on it when a student behind him yelled, ‘He’s making gun motions, send him to juvie.’”
Chaplin told officials he had repeatedly been bullied by the student who complained and that the complaint about the pencil was just an extension of that. But the school suspended him anyway, “pending the outcome of a psychological evaluation.”
Superintendent Charles Maranzano indicated that school policy and the law mandates that he investigate when anyone in school feels uncomfortable or threatened by another student. "We never know what’s percolating in the minds of children. And when they demonstrate behaviors that raise red flags, we must do our duty.”
Video at link:
http://newjersey.news12.com/news/vernon-teen-ethan-chaplin-suspended-from-school-for-pencil-gesture-1.7613736
