Toy soldiers featured on birthday cupcakes of a nine-year-old US boy have spoiled the appetite of school officials at a Michigan elementary school, whose staff said the cakes were inappropriate in the wake of the Sandy Hook school shooting.
School officials at Schall Elementary rushed to remove Hunter
Fountain’s plastic soldiers, designed to spice up his birthday
cupcakes, for fear they were asking for a fight.
The boy’s parents were reportedly chastized for the cakes’
‘military’ nature; the school principal called Hunter’s mother at
home. Principal Susan Wright later issued a public statement saying
that in the climate of recent events in schools “we walk a
delicate balance in teaching non-violence in our buildings and
trying to ensure a safe, peaceful atmosphere.”
“On one hand, there are those who advocate arming teachers,
having armed security guards and creating a fortress of defense in
our schools. On the other hand, there are those who feel that guns
create fear in schools and we need to put solid security measures
in place plus practice routines to be prepared in case an
emergency should ever occur. Living in a democratic society entails
respect for opposing opinions,” Wright wrote.
She added that “by not permitting toy soldiers on cupcakes at
school, no disrespect for our military or for the brave men and
women who defend our right to have differences was
intended."
“It disgusted me," Casey Fountain, Hunter's father, told Fox
News. “It’s vile they lump true American heroes with
psychopathic killers. We’re just taking political correctness too
far.”
A number of incidents have occurred since the notorious Newtown
massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December, when 26
people were dead, 20 of whom children.
In February, a seven-year-old Colorado boy was suspended for
pretending to throw an imaginary grenade. According to Alex Evans,
he was just trying to save the world from evil on the school
playground.
In January, a five-year-old girl was suspended from a Pennsylvania
kindergarten after telling another girl that she was going to shoot
her. The weapon she was going to use was a pink toy gun that blows
soapy bubbles.
Earlier this year, a six-year-old elementary school kid got
suspended for forming a gun with his hands, pointing it at a
student and saying ‘pow’. Staff at Roscoe Nix Elementary School in
Silver Spring called the action a ‘serious
incident'.