December 15, 2009 10:00 am

A stick figure drawing of Jesus gets second grader suspended

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A Massachusetts boy was asked to draw something that reminded him of Christmas for his second grade class. The boy, clearly unaffected by Santa Claus propaganda, drew a picture of the birthday boy Jesus Christ on the cross. The teacher didn’t like it, leading to the 8-year-old boy to be sent home and required to undergo psychiatric evaluation.

stick figure jesus1 A stick figure drawing of Jesus gets second grader suspended

The father said he got a call earlier this month from Maxham Elementary School informing him that his son, a second-grade student, had created a violent drawing. The image in question depicted a crucified Jesus with Xs covering his eyes to signify that he had died on the cross. The boy wrote his name above the cross.

“As far as I’m concerned, they’re violating his religion,” the incredulous father said.

The boy made the drawing and was sent home from school on Dec. 2. He went for the psychological evaluation — at his parents’ expense — the next day and was cleared to return to school the following Monday after the psychological evaluation found nothing to indicate that he posed a threat to himself or others.

The boy, however, was traumatized by the incident, which made going back to school very difficult, the father said. School administrators have approved the father’s request to have the boy transferred to another elementary school in the district.

This is the second time the school has suspended a child over stick figure drawings; in 2008, a fifth grader was suspended for drawing a photo of himself shooting a teacher.

“I think what happened is that because he put Xs in the eyes of Jesus, the teacher was alarmed and they told the parents they thought it was violent,” said Toni Saunders, an educational consultant with the Associated Advocacy Center.

Well, the X’s over the eyes could be one explanation for a suspension. Personally, I find it more offensive that he drew Jesus so poorly. Where are his legs? Why is he wearing a bucket where his lower extremities should be? I’m going to be pretty mad if I find out that our Lord and Savior is actually a Weeble.

UPDATE: In the interest of balance, commenter Todd asked us to include these updates from a new article from WBZ in Boston:

-The child in question allegedly told the teacher that the person on the cross was the child himself, not Jesus; the father says the drawing is due to a recent trip to a Christian retreat.
-The kid is black, leaving the father to say, “”I’m sick of using the race card, but being a black man, I feel that I’m racially discriminated, me and my child.”
-Taunton Mayor Charles Crowley is requesting that the teacher meet with the family to apologize and that the school repay the costs of the psychological exam (the family has to pay for the kid’s psych evaluation).

[Taunton Gazette]