By Charlene Sakoda
Glen Meadow Middle School seventh grader, Ethan Chaplin, was recently suspended after, he says, he was simply twirling a pencil in math class. News 12 New Jersey reported that the Vernon Township, New Jersey teenager was twirling a pencil with a pen cap on top when another student yelled, “He’s making gun motions, send him to juvie.” But Ethan denies that interpretation of his actions and said that the student who yelled the comment had been bullying him earlier that day and was just trying to get him in trouble.
Although Ethan explained the bullying situation, he says that administrators ignored his side of the story. The teen was taken to the principal’s office and News 12 notes that, “he was suspended, pending the outcome of a psychological evaluation.”
Ethan recounted, “I was shocked because I’m like, how am I not going to come back to school? I didn’t even do anything.” His father, Michael Chaplin agrees saying, “I’m livid. I’m absolutely livid. I think it’s gross misconduct at its finest. They took something so minimal and took it so far over the edge.”