Autistic Child Suspended for Drawing Cartoon Bomb

Upstate mom: Special needs son suspended for drawing bomb

A 13-year old special needs child named Rhett Parham, has been suspended from Hillcrest Middle School in Simpsonville, S.C. for drawing a picture of a cartoon bomb.

A report by WYFF-TV reveals the teen, who is autistic, drew the picture at home and brought it to school where he showed some older students. Those older classmates then reported the drawing to school officials, which subsequently resulted in Parham’s suspension.

The teenager replicated the cartoon bomb from a Youtube video game called Bomberman 64, one of his favorite games.

Parham’s mother Amy, was shocked when she received the call from his middle school and initially thought they were joking.

“People know that he has autism, he has an official diagnosis,” said his mother.

“They know that he communicates differently, it’s obvious when you communicate with him that he doesn’t, you know, speak the same way, and communicate and think the same way as typical children.”

While Miss Parham understands the importance of school safety, she’s urging the middle school to reevaluate its policy on what they perceive as a threat.

“They actually reiterated to me they knew he was non-violent,” said Parham.

“They knew he was not actually having a bomb, creating or making a bomb. But that they could not go with out making an example of him and take some type of action because they were worried about their perception. Perception is actually the word he used. Perception is reality, and parents might think you have a bomb or [might be] violent.”

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Comment by James μολὼν λαβέ on October 16, 2013 at 1:24pm: What do you bet it was a better rendition than Netanyahu’s bomb

Comment by Nobody Will Observe on October 16, 2013 at 1:31pm: Those older classmates then reported the drawing to school officials LOL

Comment by Daniel Nielsen on October 16, 2013 at 1:52pm: I wonder where the kids get it from :-)

Comment by James μολὼν λαβέ on October 16, 2013 at 2:40pm

Comment by Less Prone on October 16, 2013 at 8:21pm: It's crazy. A drawing of a bomb is a safety threat?

Comment by sleat on October 17, 2013 at 2:09am: Someday, someone might bring an autocad drawing of the physics package of an actual nuclear device to school for a science-fair project.

They could include a complete, college level treatise on the physics and engineering involved.

That'd have them scratching their heads.