Middle School Student Gets Suspended For Liking A Photo Of A Gun On Instagram

Seventh-grader Zachary Bowlin, of Cincinnati, Ohio, says he was scrolling through Instagram one night when he came across a picture of an airsoft gun with the caption, "ready." Zachary "liked" the photo, then moved on.

The next day, Zachary says he was called into the office of Edgewood Middle School and patted down for weapons. 

According to a notice to his parents, Zachary was then handed a ten-day suspension from school because him "liking" the picture of the gun indicated "potential school violence."

"I was livid. I mean, I’m sitting here thinking, ‘You just suspended him for ten days for liking a picture of a gun on a social media site," his dad, Marty Bowlin, told Fox19. "He never shared, he never commented, he never made a threatening post… anything on the site, just liked it."

The school ended up dropping the suspension and choosing not to punish Zachary after his family got the notice, the Bowlins say.

Still, Englewood City Schools Superintendent Russ Fussnecker defended the school's decision to take the "like" seriously.

"The Board has a 'zero tolerance' of violent, disruptive, harassing, intimidating, bullying, or any other inappropriate behavior by its students," Fussnecker said in a statement.

According to policy, "Students are also subject to discipline as outlined in the Student Code of Conduct that occurs off school property when the misbehavior adversely affects the educational process," he added.

"As the Superintendent of the Edgewood City Schools, I assure you that any social media threat will be taken serious including those who 'like' the post when it potentially endangers the health and safety of students or adversely affects the educational process."

What do you think, did the school go to far?