1st grader suspended over imaginary bow and arrow

An Ohio first-grader was reportedly given a three-day suspension after he pretended to shoot a fellow student with a bow and arrow.

“I have no tolerance for any real, pretend or imitated violence,” a letter from Principal Joe Crachiolo to the boys’ parents said. “The punishment is an out of school suspension.”

Matthew and Martha Miele said that their 6-year-old son was just imitating a Power Ranger during recess at Our Lady of Lourdes in Cincinnati.

“The punishment is so severe in this it’s hard as a parent to try to make this a teachable moment for our kid so we can move forward in a healthy manner,” Matthew Miele said.

The first-grader was playing outside when a teacher noticed the act and told the principal, who then called the boy into his office, according to Miele.

“I didn’t really understand,” she said. “I had him on the phone for a good amount of time so he could really explain to me what he was trying to tell me. My question to him was, ‘Is this really necessary? Does this really need to be a three-day suspension under the circumstances that he was playing and he’s 6 years old?”

The Archdiocese of Cincinnati told WLWT it does not comment on disciplinary issues. The suspension went into effect Friday.