Eight-Year-Old Florida Boy Suspended From School For Using Finger As A Pretend Gun While Playing With Friends

An 8-year-old boy was suspended from his school in Central Florida after reportedly using his finger as a make-believe gun.

As WFTV reports, Jordan Bennett was playing cops and robbers with another pupil when he used his thumb and index fingers to simulate a gun. The boy was kicked out of Harmony Community School in Osceola County on Friday and issued a one-day suspension.

According to WFTV, the school considered the incident to be an act of violence, something which Jordan’s mother Bonnie disputes. "He had nothing in his hand. It was a finger gun, a pretend gun," Bennett said. "He didn't threaten violence. He didn't utter words that were inappropriate. He made a sound and used his fingers and that was it."

Bennett says the school should have considered other punishments rather than having her son suspended. "A written apology," she said. "If he would have written an essay about why it was inappropriate, what he did, that would have made more of an impact."

Now, Bonnie Bennett is worried that her son will be labeled as violent, according to ClickOrlando.com. “They took a child that has never been in trouble before and went to the extreme,” Bennett said. “A child that has no history of violence is now classified as a violent offender.”

Bennett says this is the first time Jordan has ever been suspended from school. She is hoping to have the suspension removed from her son’s record, according to ClickOrlando.com. “I'm prepared to go to court if I have to because this is wrong. It's wrong for my son and any other child if they're faced with the same thing because of a game,” Bennett said.

A representative for the Osceola County School District declined to discuss the case due to confidentiality, except to say that Jordan’s actions violated the code of student conduct.

As the Huffington Post points out, two middle school boys in Virginia were suspended last week and now face expulsion for playing with Airsoft guns near one of their houses. The incident happened at a bus stop technically on school property, which is why the school invoked the right to suspend them.