You’re in for it now. You’ve been ordered down to
the principal’s office, and he doesn’t look like he’s in a forgiving mood. He lists off all the
trouble you’re in, gives you a blistering lecture, and pounds his fist on the table
before pronouncing your punishment. You’ve really done it this time, though luckily
it’ll just be another bout in detention. But some kids have been suspended from school
for reasons that can be downright bizarre. If you’ve seen movies about kids in the 80s,
you’ve probably seen a food fight. These are often portrayed as destructive free-for-alls
where the whole cafeteria winds up coated in food. But the reality is often less impressive -and the
punishment severe. In Chicago, a group of middle schoolers engaged in some light tossing of food
at lunch. After one piece of food went flying, another kid tossed an orange. Someone yelled “Food
fight!”, likely hoping to start some chaos - but no one bit. Likely hoping to deter any future
food-fight fans, the school not only suspended twenty-five students - but they were arrested for
reckless conduct and spent several hours in jail! It wasn’t the only time food got kids in trouble. Kids love to play with their food, so it wasn’t
any surprise when a seven-year-old boy chewed his Pop Tart into some unique shapes. But
when he bit it into the shape of a pistol, the school sprung into action. The boy was sent
to the principal, who immediately suspended him under the zero-tolerance policy for bringing
any kind of weapon to school. The fact that the weapon was made out of pastry didn’t seem
to matter. While the school said the boy had a history of behavioral problems and stood by their
decision, the incident caused a national uproar. Zero tolerance policies sometimes
get a little out of control. What was the best day in elementary school?
When someone had a birthday and they brought in treats, of course! But for one Delaware
first-grader, it turned all too serious. He brought in a birthday cake for the whole class
to share, and helpfully brought in a knife for the teacher to cut the cake. She did - and then
immediately sent the child down to the principal, where he was immediately suspended for
bringing a weapon to school. Happy birthday, kid. While the school was initially going to send
him to an alternative school for forty-five days, it was eventually lowered to a three-day
suspension after national attention. Safety is first at schools, and that can
even cause trouble for good samaritans. When a student at a middle school in Virginia
saw a parent they knew struggling with a heavy package, they held the door open to the
school to let them in. Sounds like a nice thing to do - but they soon found themselves
suspended for a day instead of being thanked! The school had a high-tech security
system that involved everyone who wasn’t a student or employee being vetted
by a security camera before they’re let in, and there was no room for chivalry when it
came to making sure the school was safe. Even saving someone’s life
can backfire on students! An asthma attack can turn serious in a
hurry, but when a girl in an eighth-grade Texas class told her teacher she couldn’t
breathe, the teacher wasn’t concerned. She told the girl to wait until she heard back
from the nurse. But when the girl collapsed, a boy near her had seen enough. He picked
the girl up, said some choice words, and ran the girl down to the nurse. His reward
for helping a student who couldn’t breathe? Being suspended for two days for cursing and
for leaving the classroom without permission. His angry mother quickly changed her tune
when she found out why he was in trouble. Sometimes the call of nature can
mean a call home from the principal. We’ve all had a big lunch and we just need
to get a little of that air out, right? Well, that’s what happened to a New Mexico teenager,
who let out a big burp in the middle of class. Nothing to get worked up over, right? Well,
when he let out several more loud burps, the teacher sent him to the office - and that’s
where the story took a turn. In New Mexico, disturbing the education process isn’t just
grounds for suspension - it’s a misdemeanor, and the seventh-grader was suspended. The
case went all the way to the Supreme Court, and eventually they ruled that the law was
legal. Might want to hold in that next burp. The danger of being suspended starts
surprisingly early in some cases. A five-year-old Pennsylvania girl loved
her Hello Kitty-themed bubble gun - so much that she couldn’t bear to leave
it behind when she went to school. She couldn’t wait to have a bubble fight
with her friends - but when she pointed it at another student, the school acted
fast and suspended her for ten days from Kindergarten. The school claimed that she had
made a credible threat against another student, but agreed to reduce the suspension to two days
after the parents got an attorney involved. Students don’t have to just be careful
about what they do - but what they say. When high school senior Patrick Farves attended
a school event hosted by 2014 Miss America Nina Davuluri, he decided to take
a bold step - and ask her to prom. This stunt had been public knowledge at the
school for a few days and he was warned not to disrupt the assembly. When he did it anyway,
Miss America seemed to think it was funny even as she turned him down - but the administration
didn’t. They suspended Farves for three days, but Davuluri was more sympathetic - she wrote a
letter to the school asking them to be lenient. That wasn’t the only time a fan of a
celebrity got themselves in trouble. When popular, religious NFL quarterback Tim Tebow
became famous for his “Tebowing” stance in games, a group of students in Riverhead High School
decided to show their support. They created a little flash mob in the hallway, all mimicking
Tebow’s kneeling stance. The only problem? This apparently caused a
traffic jam in the hallway, and the administration wasn’t amused. The
four students who started it were suspended, and the school faced accusations
of religious discrimination. But one young sports fan went even further
in showing his support for his team. Patrick Gonzalez, a twelve-year-old from San
Antonio, was a huge fan of Spurs player Matt Bonner. And thanks to a talented barber, he
was able to come to school with Bonner’s image shaved into his head. The eye-catching hairstyle
certainly made him popular - but it violated the school’s dress code which banned distracting
hairstyles. The only way out of his suspension? Shave his head to get rid of the tribute.
But Gonzalez did get something out of the deal - a package of basketball tickets
and autographed gear directly from Bonner. Schools often have strict dress codes -
and hair is a common source for trouble. In 2014, a little girl in third grade was battling
cancer and lost all her hair. Her kind best friend didn’t want her to go through this alone,
so she decided to shave her head as well. This would have been a feel-good story - if
it wasn’t for the administration’s reaction. The public charter school thought a little
girl with a shaved head would be a distraction, so they suspended her until her hair grew
back. This was the ultimate bad PR move, and the school quickly found itself forced
to make an exemption for this good friend. It wasn’t the only time support for
kids with cancer led to trouble. The charity Locks of Love encourages people to
grow their hair out and then have it cut for the hair to be made into wigs for those battling
cancer. One Ohio boy decided to undertake this project, but it seemed only girls at his
high school were allowed to have long hair. The school told him that once his hair reached
a certain length, he would have to cut it or be put into in-school suspension until he did.
While he fought his case to the school board, they upheld the policy, and the young man became
the only prisoner of conscience in the ISS room. Big tech is making its way into schools,
and that causes some unusual situations. RFID is a tracking system that’s often used to
keep tabs on livestock and make sure they’re not escaping their confines, but one San Antonio
principal had another idea - having his students wear necklaces with RFID chips when in school.
Good luck cutting class now, kids. One sophomore, Andrea Hernandez, felt this was a violation of her
privacy. When she rejected a compromise that would allow her to wear a similar badge without the chip
because she didn’t want to appear like she was complying, she was suspended and faced expulsion
for refusing to comply with the dress code. Even pop music can get kids in trouble. Six-year-old D’Avonte Meadows heard a song
on the radio that seemed pretty catchy, so he decided to sing it in the lunch
line. Unfortunately for him, the song was “I’m Sexy and I Know It” and the line
“Girl, look at that body” was determined to be not appropriate for school. He was
suspended for sexual harassment, and many people questioned whether it was likely if he
even knew what he was singing about. He probably didn’t - given that the song had been parodied
on Sesame Street not long before the incident. But some incidents can carry much more
serious consequences for the kids involved. Kiera Wilmot, a star student at Bartow High School
in Florida, decided to do an experiment that she had seen on YouTube for her science class. She
mixed toilet bowl cleaner and aluminum foil, which can create an impressive chemical
reaction. But she got more than she was counting on - a small explosion that sent smoke
billowing into the room. While no one was hurt and nothing was damaged, the explosion startled
people enough that Wilmot was expelled from school and charged with a felony - discharge of a weapon
on school property. The idea of a promising young student possibly facing jail time for a science
experiment caused a national outrage, and Wilmot eventually had the charges dropped and was
allowed back in school to graduate with her class. But that was nothing compared to the
furor of the final case - which got the President of the United States involved! 14-year-old Ahmed Mohamed was a science
buff at MacArthur High School in Texas, and he liked to experiment with simple household
devices. When he took apart a digital clock and put it together in a new shape, he decided
to bring it to school to show his teachers. While most of them might have been impressed,
his English teacher panicked. She thought the strange-looking device looked like a bomb and
contacted the principal. Ahmed was arrested and questioned for hours without his parents being
allowed to see him. While no charges were filed, he was suspended from school - and
that’s where the outrage started. His story became national news, with many saying
it made no sense that a digital clock would be mistaken for a bomb. Others said he was racially
profiled, being from a Sudanese Muslim family. The anger over the case spread so far that
President Barack Obama tweeted his support, saying “Cool clock, Ahmed” and inviting the boy
to the White House. While Ahmed’s suspension was over after three days, the controversy
wasn’t - his family filed a lawsuit against the school district for violating his civil
rights, although it was later dismissed. But it’s not many school suspensions that people are
still debating on talk radio five years later. For what happens when these
situations escalate even further, check out “Weird Times Police Arrested Kids”, or
watch “World’s Worst Teachers - 9 Insane Things That Got Them Fired” for what happens when
the other people at school get in trouble.
