Texas School Suspends 9-Year-Old Kid for Pretending He Had a Hobbit ‘Ring of Power’

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 up getting him suspended. [1] Aiden Steward, in a playful act of make-believe, told a classmate he could make him disappear with a ring forged in fictional Middle Earth’s Mount Doom. [8] Believe it or not, when Aiden told a student that he could make him disappear since the plastic ring was forged in fictional Middle Earth’s Mount Doom, the school accused him of “threats of violence” against classmates. [8] The principal said threats, real or imagined, to another child’s safety would not be tolerated, Mr. Steward said. [2] After hearing such nonsense, the only logical conclusion we can come up with is that it would seems that Trolls can be found outside of Tolkiens book and that some of them have just infiltrated the administration of this small Texas school.  The father was absolutely baffled: “It sounded unbelievable,” Aiden’s father, Jason Steward, said in an interview with the New York Daily News. [2] [8] But Jason said his son “didn’t mean anything by it.” He explained that their family had just watched “The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies” that week, and the elementary school boy was just pretending he had a ring like in the movie.  “Kids act out movies that they see. When I watched Superman as a kid, I went outside and tried to fly,” Steward explained.  [1] [2] “I assure you my son lacks the magical powers necessary to threaten his friend’s existence,” Aiden’s father continued. “If he did, I’m sure he’d bring him right back.” [1] [2] [4] [6]  Mr. Steward said he requested a written explanation from the school as to how his son’s statements constituted a “terroristic threat” and was told the school would put the letter in the mail. [2] [4] Principal Roxanne Greer declined to comment on the 4th grader’s suspension, citing confidentiality policies, according to the Odessa American, which first reported the story. [2] The Stewards moved to the Kermit Independent School District only six months ago, and Aiden has already been suspended from school three times. [2] Two of the disciplinary actions this year were in-school suspensions for referring to a classmate as “black” and for bringing in his favorite children’s book [2] More precisely, Aiden got in trouble earlier this school year by bringing a copy of “The Big Book of Knowledge” to school. The popular children’s encyclopedia contained a chapter on pregnancy, with a pregnant woman in an illustration. The school said that was a big no-no. “He loves that book. They were studying the solar system and he took it to school. He thought his teacher would be impressed,” [2] Aiden’s father explain. Apparently books with knowledge and kids with imagination do not mix at the Kermit Elementary School. [1]