US Student, 6, Suspended For Biting Sandwich Into Shape Of Gun, Pointing It At Classmate

A six-year-old first-grader in the US state of Georgia has been suspended after he bit into his sandwich in the shape of a gun before pointing it at a classmate during lunch. Parents of John Medina, a student at Sara Harp Minter Elementary, claimed that the incident was part of a broader pattern of the district disciplining their son, who has autism.

The sandwich incident happened in March, and the school decided to suspend him, which caught John's mother, Kristin Medina, off guard.

"They informed me over that phone call that he was getting suspended for it," said Kristin. "And you're just, like, baffled."

Since 2023, John has been disciplined at least 33 times, including 14 suspensions, for incidents like kicking and punching a student at recess, according to a report in New York Post. Records also show that he was suspended for pointing a water bottle at someone while making gun noises and was disciplined for drawing a pilgrim shooting a turkey.

"I think he feels like he's a bad kid. There were definitely times when he would come home and say 'I'm a bad kid' and that's really hard to hear as a mom,'" said Kristin.

Kristin wants the school to follow her son's individualised education program, or IEP, which includes accommodations like taking him for a walk when he is overstimulated.

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The family has now hired Donna Reynolds, an ex-special education director, to represent them during meetings with Fayette County Schools.

"When you're dealing with six-year-olds in general, I don't think they have the capacity to understand the consequences of their actions and kids will use their fingers," Reynolds told the outlet, referring to the sandwich suspension.

Reynolds said districts must weigh multiple factors before disciplining students in similar situations.

"They need to look at the whole picture. You need to look at his age. You need to look at his disability. You need to look at past behavior, and you need to determine whether this is more of a teaching moment or is this something that really needs discipline, and is that discipline then going to change the behavior?"

Fayette County Schools Superintendent Jonathan Patterson said the district is "committed to meeting parents to try to work through these challenging situations that maybe we agree on, that maybe we don't agree on, but we're committed to keep coming back to the table and trying to resolve those things."