boy sent home from school for a jesus drawing

[Amby 490]

TAUNTON, Mass. — An 8-year-old boy was sent home from school and ordered to undergo a psychological evaluation after he was asked to make a Christmas drawing and came up with what appeared to be a stick figure of Jesus on a cross, the child's father said Tuesday.

Chester Johnson told WBZ-TV that his son made the drawing on Dec. 2 after his second-grade teacher asked children to sketch something that reminded them of the holiday.

Johnson said the teacher became upset when his son said he drew himself on the cross. Johnson, who is black, told WBZ he suspects racism is involved. He said he thinks the school overreacted and wants an apology.

Johnson told the Taunton Daily Gazette, which first reported the story on Tuesday, that his son gets specialized reading and speech instruction and has never been violent in school.

An educational consultant working with the Johnson family said the teacher was also alarmed when the boy drew Xs for Jesus' eyes.

A call to Johnson was not immediately returned.

The boy was cleared to return to school on Dec. 7 after the evaluation found nothing to indicate that he posed a threat to himself or others. But his father said the boy was traumatized by the incident and the school district has approved the family's request to have the child transferred to another school.

"They owe my family an apology and the kid an apology and they need to work with my son (to) the best of their ability to get him back to where he was before all this happened," Johnson told New England Cable News.

The father said in the days before the incident the family had gone to the National Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette in Attleboro, where there are crucifixion statues.

"That was fresh on his mind," he told NECN. "And that was a good thing that he saw."

Superintendent Julie Hackett said she could not discuss an individual student and did not address the drawing specifically or the teacher's reaction to it, but did say the school has safety protocols in place that were followed.

Hackett did not return multiple calls from The Associated Press on Tuesday.

In June 2008, a Taunton fifth-grade student was suspended for a day for a stick figure drawing that appeared to depict him shooting his teacher and a classmate.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,580282...test=latestnews

[Niels Bohr 72]

Discretion?

The ACLU will come out on this.

[Nagishkaw 510]

An educational consultant working with the Johnson family said the teacher was also alarmed when the boy drew Xs for Jesus' eyes.

[Marina-Del 10]

How silly of this teacher to make such a huge deal of that! I would think maybe she could talk to the parents about it just to see how they felt, but the boy did nothing wrong. Christmas is about the birth of Jesus. So the boy didn't draw a baby in a manger, but rather Jesus on the Cross...so he's got his holidays mixed up a bit!

And good for the boy drawing X's on the eyes, I mean Jesus died right?! I call that creativity.

Although, there is a line in there that the boy said it was HIM on the cross (as opposed to Jesus). Is that why the teacher was so alarmed?

[alienlovechild 75]

TAUNTON, Mass. — An 8-year-old boy was sent home from school and ordered to undergo a psychological evaluation after he was asked to make a Christmas drawing and came up with what appeared to be a stick figure of Jesus on a cross, the child's father said Tuesday.

Johnson said the teacher became upset when his son said he drew himself on the cross. Johnson, who is black, told WBZ he suspects racism is involved. He said he thinks the school overreacted and wants an apology.

An educational consultant working with the Johnson family said the teacher was also alarmed when the boy drew Xs for Jesus' eyes.

The boy was cleared to return to school on Dec. 7 after the evaluation found nothing to indicate that he posed a threat to himself or others. But his father said the boy was traumatized by the incident and the school district has approved the family's request to have the child transferred to another school.

My how schools have changed. I can't remember any kid getting in trouble for a drawing. I'm sure I drew stuff from TV shows that were inappropriate by today's standards. One guy at a class reunion recalled I liked to draw aliens and spaceships. Some stuff doesn't change but I haven't vaporized anyone yet.

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Discretion?

The ACLU will come out on this.

Don't hold your breath.

[Ban Hammer 13,346]

and the kid got crucified for it.

[Amby 490]

I thought the Xs were creative too!

[Chica Yeyé 41]

An educational consultant working with the Johnson family said the teacher was also alarmed when the boy drew Xs for Jesus' eyes.

[thongd4me 69]

How silly of this teacher to make such a huge deal of that! I would think maybe she could talk to the parents about it just to see how they felt, but the boy did nothing wrong. Christmas is about the birth of Jesus. So the boy didn't draw a baby in a manger, but rather Jesus on the Cross...so he's got his holidays mixed up a bit!

And good for the boy drawing X's on the eyes, I mean Jesus died right?! I call that creativity.

Although, there is a line in there that the boy said it was HIM on the cross (as opposed to Jesus). Is that why the teacher was so alarmed?

I agree this was a lot of doing too much stuff about "nothing."

Children see with keener eyes than adults and if they have an image,

whereever they got it from, they just see it as they feel and don't

attach any philosophical/political baggage that adults get caught up in.

The x's for eyes just meant that he was dead - clergymen couldn't argue

with that because they say he died for the sins of the world. It's

the ADULTS that look at this and find it bizarre, not the kid.

What would they do to him if he drew a pic of a lawyer?

[Jenn! 918]

Johnson said the teacher became upset when his son said he drew himself on the cross.

he drew himself, not jesus, it says. i think that's a red flag for something.

[Nagishkaw 510]

and the kid got crucified for it.

They should have nailed the teacher.

[Niels Bohr 72]

Johnson said the teacher became upset when his son said he drew himself on the cross.

he drew himself, not jesus, it says. i think that's a red flag for something.

He looks like a stick figure?

[Peikko 1,575]

Johnson said the teacher became upset when his son said he drew himself on the cross.

he drew himself, not jesus, it says. i think that's a red flag for something.

Agreed. There is probably some rather biased wording in the title of this article. Grab interest at the expense of fact

[Amby 490]

Johnson said the teacher became upset when his son said he drew himself on the cross.

he drew himself, not jesus, it says. i think that's a red flag for something.

that's what I didn't get about this story. the kid drew what looked like jesus on the cross, but told the teacher it was him, not jesus?

ps. jenn I had a weird azz dream about you the other day. why you? NO CLUE