End of Childhood

On May 8, Atlantic City, New Jersey, 5th grader Aarin Moody reached into his pocket to retrieve a “late note” from his mother and a Nerf gun foam “bullet” fell out. Officials at the Atlantic City School District categorized the toy bullet as a “self-constructed weapon” because “it had a toothpick stuck in it.”  As a result, Moody received “a ...

Boy Scouts of America has banned both squirt-gun fights and anything involving a water balloon larger than a ping-pong ball. “Pointing any type of firearm or simulated firearm at any individual is unauthorized,” states the group’s 2015 manual. “Water guns and rubber band guns must only be used to shoot at targets, and eye protection must be worn,” it continues. ...

Tolkien lore led a Texas boy to suspension after he brought his “one ring” to school.  [8] Aiden Steward had just watched the third Hobbit movie with his family and he wanted to pretend that he had a ring that could make people disappear, just like Bilbo Baggins. [1] But when he brought the toy ring to school, it ended ...

The mother of a seven-year-old boy was told to sign a school form admitting he was racist after he asked another pupil about the colour of his skin.   Elliott Dearlove had asked a five-year-old boy in the playground whether he was ‘brown because he was from Africa’.  His mother, Hayley White, 29, said she received a phone call last month ...