Elementary school students in Washington state were allowed by a teacher to play with Nerf guns but the school suspended them.
A sixth-grade student brought several guns to Chase Lake Elementary School in Edmonds last week for a school project that was said to have been approved by a teacher, reported KOBI2.com.
However, before school started, the students received suspensions for seeing how far the guns could shoot, one parent told the station.
“So he took them out and of course -- Nerf gun -- they started testing how far they would shoot,” said parent Shannon Shumard, according to the station. Her daughter and son were both suspended for the day for playing with the guns even though they did not bring them to school.
“They are both very upset,” Shumard added. “I mean, it’s a day suspension, but it’s a permanent on their record.”
The school has a “zero tolerance” policy for toy guns.
“Again, it’s a matter of safety and it’s of the utmost importance. So even if it’s a toy, we take it seriously,” school district spokeswoman Amanda Ralston told the station.
This week, a middle school student in Maryland was suspended for talking about guns on a school bus.
His father, Bruce Henkelman, told WMAL-TV that his son was talking about protecting others from the Sandy Hook massacre last year.
“He said, I wish I had a gun to protect everyone. He wanted to defeat the bad guys. That’s the context of what he said,” Henkelman told WMAL. “He wanted to be the hero.”
