Sampson County student suspended for drawing of stick figure holding gun

By Gilbert Baez, WRAL reporter

Roseboro, N.C. — A middle school student in Sampson County was suspended over a doodle that showed stick figures holding guns and knives.

The incident happened several weeks ago at Roseboro Salemburg Middle School and the father of the 13-year-old boy said he can’t believe his son received a two-day suspension for what he calls a harmless picture.

“I see a guy in a race car souped-up. I see a tower that he build. I see him holding his gun, he’s a deer hunter. I see him with a magician and I see him as a Ninja Turtle,” James Herring said. “[He’s] just expressing himself, nothing violent.”

Herring said his son does have access to weapons that he uses for hunting, but they’re kept under lock and key. He said his son is not violent and wasn’t having any emotional issues when he made the drawings.

Herring said he was shocked when the school called and said his son was being suspended.

“When I see that, I see a normal 13-year-old boy. I drew pictures like this, any other person of his age drew drawings like this. It’s nothing to get expelled from school for,” he said.

While the seventh grader has returned to school, his father is wondering what type of message the school system is trying to send by suspending his son.

“Due to everything happening in the nation, we’re just being extra vigilant about all issues of safety,” said Sampson County Schools’ Superintendent Eric Bracy.

While Bracy wouldn’t talk about the specifics of the suspension given to Herring's son, he said punishments for students for a variety of offenses are outlined in the student handbook.

“There are some things that list possible threats or things like that. We’ve got category one, two, three and four, which sort of grades potential incidents and the level or seriousness,” Bracy said about the punishments outlined in the handbook.

Herring said his son's drawings were made before the shooting at a Parkland, Fla. school that killed 17 people.