Dec 15, 2009 9:28 pm US/Eastern
Boy Sent Home For Drawing Of Crucifixion
TAUNTON (WBZ) ―
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A Maxham Elementary second-grader was suspended from school because of this drawing.
WBZ
A Taunton father is furious his eight-year-old son was sent home from school and required to undergo a psychological evaluation after he drew a stick-figure picture of a crucifixion.
THE DRAWING
It started on December 2, when the boy's second-grade teacher at the Maxham Elementary School asked the class to sketch something that reminded them of Christmas.
The boy, who has special educational needs, had recently gone with his family to see the Christmas display at the
LaSalette shrine, a Christian retreat in Attleboro.
He drew what appeared to be a crucified Jesus Christ with X's covering his eyes to signify that he had died on the cross.
He then told the teacher that the person he drew on the cross was himself.
The teacher was concerned it might be a sign of violence and she contacted school officials.
The boy was sent for a psychiatric evaluation. A psychiatrist determined he is not violent or a threat to others and he was cleared to return to school.
His father is furious. He claims the school overreacted.
"This is a highly intelligent kid. He gets 100's on his tests," Chester Johnson told WBZ Tuesday.
"I want him transferred to another school and I want something done about this. They owe my family an apology and they owe me an apology and what they can do is keep giving my son the education that he needs and work with him."
SCHOOL RESPONSE
The Taunton School District said in a written statement Tuesday night that the second-grade student was never suspended over the drawing. It also said a drawing circulated to reporters by the boy's father, Chester Johnson, is not the same one that was discovered by the teacher.
The district says the boy's teacher never assigned students to draw something that reminded them of the holiday season, as Johnson said.
Superintendent Julie Hackett told the
Taunton Gazette that district policy prevents her from discussing a "confidential matter regarding a student."
THE FALLOUT
"I find the decision very disappointing," school committee member Christine Fagan told
WBZ Radio Tuesday.
"But I think there's so much pressure now on people to look for all kinds of things. I think that's what generates these types of responses."
RACE?
Johnson told WBZ he thinks race was a factor.
"As soon as he said that that was him on this cross (sleeping) – red flag! She ran with it! Touchdown! I got 'em. I'm gonna have him evaluated, there's something wrong with this minority kid. We gotta get in his mind."
"I'm sick of using the race card, but being a black man, I feel that I'm racially discriminated, me and my child."
HURTS THE BOY MORE?
Some experts think the school did more harm than good for the boy.
"More disturbing than the knee-jerk interpretation of this child's drawing, is the response of the school," said Kerri Augusto, a professor of psychology and family studies at Becker College.
"The extreme lengths to which the administration went to 'protect' the child, resulted in punishment for the child and his/her family and shows blatant disregard for the child's social and emotional needs."
THE MAYOR STEPS IN
Taunton Mayor Charles Crowley has been in contact with Hackett.
He is requesting that she meet with the family and apologize. He is also ordering that the school pay for the psychological exam that was done and come up with a procedure to make sure an incident like this does not happen again.
TAUNTON'S REPUTATION
Taunton is also worried about the negative attention that the story is bringing there.
"Because someone makes a decision like that, that's not representative of the whole community," Fagan added.
"I think we really need to be careful about how far we want to take this idea of political correctness."
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