A gay Indiana teen whose mother gave him a stun gun to defend himself against bullying is facing suspension for bringing the weapon to school and firing it into the air, CBS Cleveland reports. Darnell Young's mother, Chelisa Grimes, says she doesn't promote violence, but she didn't know what else to do to protect her son.
From CBS News:
The teen's mother told the Indianapolis Star that she gave him the stun gun because she thought the school didn't do enough to protect him …
According CNN, Young discharged the stun gun in the air after six fellow students surrounded him on April 16 and threatened to beat him up.
"I got kicked out of school for me bringing the weapon to school, but I honestly don't think that that was fair," Young told CNN. "I didn't use it on nobody … all I did was raise it up in the air and went back to my class."
Arsenal Tech principal Larry Yarrell says that Young is a flamboyant dresser and that school staff had been trying to get him to "tone down" his accessories.
"If you wear female apparel, then kids are kids and they're going to say whatever it is that they want to say," Yarrell told CNN. "Because you want to be different and because you choose to wear female apparel, it may happen. In the idealistic society, it shouldn't matter. People should be able to wear what they want to wear."
There are so many things wrong with this story: That Young's classmates' bigotry made it impossible for him to go to school in peace, that the principal seems to be blaming the victim and that his mother thought disregard for rules and the threat of violence constituted a smart response to the situation. A decision regarding whether to expel him is expected to be handed down soon, but neither that nor a possible expulsion is going to solve any of these problems.
Read more at CBS News.