Kindergarten Student Suspended For 10 Days For Bringing Sleeping Pill To School

Zamari Hawkins, a 6-year-old from Missouri, perhaps hardly knew the meaning of the word suspension but he learned it quickly enough after he was asked to stay away from school for 10 days. The Martin City Elementary School administration suspended the boy early January after he took a melatonin pill to class in his backpack.

The child’s mother, Danielle Largent, said her son’s therapist had asked him to take the pills, adding the boy was diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and a mood disorder at the beginning of the academic year, Fox 4 reported. Hawkins’ suspension ended Thursday.

The National Institute of Mental Health defines ADHD as a condition that affects a person’s ability to pay attention and control impulsive behaviors. People with ADHD will be restless and almost constantly active.

“He had taken a melatonin (pill) to school, that his therapist required him to take every night before he goes to bed to help him sleep,” she said.

“He was having problems sitting still. He got diagnosed with ADHD and a mood disorder," she said.

However, Largent said she was upset with the punishment as it didn't fit the “crime.” She said the way the school handled the issue of taking a sleeping pill to school was very harsh.

“I could understand if he was in like middle school or high school, where he really understands — even fourth or fifth grade — but he doesn’t know any better,” she said.

“They said they slapped him with 10 days because he was in kindergarten, but they could have given him up to 170 days because of the pill,” Largent said. “He’s a 6-year-old child who doesn’t understand and doesn’t know that what he was doing at the time was wrong.”

Speaking about the specific incident that led to her son’s suspension, Largent said, “He took the pill out, and there was another little girl that was asking about this pill. You know, kids are curious.”

“Zamari said, 'Yeah, but you’re not gonna like it.' She put it in her mouth and spit it right out.”

Largent said the girl told her mother about the incident, who then called the school. Later that day, Largent received a phone call from the school and the boy was sent home with discipline papers for “distribution of a drug.”

“Told me that I had to come get my son, and that he was going to be suspended for 10 days, and he was going to be patted down for the rest of the school year,” she said.

The Grandview School District said it could not discuss any student disciplinary action, by law. However in a statement, the district said it provides support services to students who needed help.

The school district policy also said students were strictly banned from bringing any over-the-counter medication to school, violation of which could result in anything from a verbal warning to suspension and even expulsion.

Largent said she had a chat with her son about the whole issue, and that he understood what he did was wrong.