The Colorado deputy who saw the video footage said Isaiah Elliott’s nerf gun only flashed across the screen for two seconds at most during his zoom class meeting. And yet, Elliott was suspended for 5 days and his family received an unannounced visit from the cops. In this new era where our public lives are invading our private ones, should schools police our homes like classrooms?

Recently, I had a friend who had made his laundry room into his office. The wide shelf above his washer and dryer made a perfect standing desk, and the room closed off from the rest of the noisy house. However, it was not until after several zoom calls that someone told him about the bras and panties hanging in his background. 

It makes sense that certain elements of the home environment can be distracting or seem unprofessional in a call. But my experience has been that people who are distracted are rational communicators about the problem, and they are very quick to extend grace.

Sadly, Isaiah Elliot did not receive a rational or graceful response when he had a nerf gun on the table beside his computer. The situation begs context. Have students been receiving reprimands for having toys or food regularly in zoom calls? Were there strict policies in place about what was allowed on screen? Guns have the power to make people feel more than uncomfortable, but should a toy gun receive such a harsh response if students and teachers are miles from one another? His comments had me wondering, “Was this punishment a strict statement on gun control, or was this an example of systemic racism at play?

In a country brimming with racial tension, why would you send the police to the home of a young black boy? Why not call his parents? This was Curtis Elliott’s question too as he explained in an interview with FOX3 that he was fearful the deputies might overreact to having the school principal tell them a young Black boy was potentially armed with a gun,

It was really frightening and upsetting for me as a parent, especially as the parent of an African-American young man, especially given what’s going on in our country right now… He was in tears when the cops came. He was just in tears. He was scared. We all were scared. I literally was scared for his life.

 So, was the uproar about having a gun? Or about a young black boy holding a gun? No matter the reason, keeping a boy from participating in class right now was the wrong reaction. Schools should be less focused on protecting their image and more focused on keeping students in routine without disruption, especially during a global pandemic. Isaiah’s mother closed her interview telling the press her son would be transferring to a private or charter school as soon as possible. I don’t blame her.

Listen to an exclusive interview with Isaiah Elliott’s mother on Citizen Ed: https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=636466707011732&ref=watch_permalink