A Texas fourth-grader's love for "The Lord of the Rings" got him suspended from school last Friday, his outraged father claims.
Aiden Steward, 9, was suspended from Kermit Elementary School after he brought a ring to school and said he could use it to make a classmate disappear, just like the mysterious and evil "one ring" does in author J.R.R. Tolkien's popular fiction series, the New York Daily News reported.
School administrators viewed the incident as a terroristic threat, said Jason Steward, Aiden's father.
"It sounded unbelievable," Steward told the newspaper. The family saw "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies" at the movies a week ago and his son just let his imagination run away with him, the father said.
"Kids act out movies that they see. When I watched Superman as a kid, I went outside and tried to fly," Steward told the Daily News.
The school's principal, Roxanne Greer, said confidentiality policies prevent her from commenting on the incident, the Odessa American reported.
This isn't Aiden's first brush with suspension. He received an in-school suspension after making a racially charged comment towards a student and another suspension for bringing an encyclopedia to school that had a section on pregnancy.
As for the latest suspension, Steward said he wants the school to formally explain in a letter why his son was punished, the Odessa American reported.
Jason Steward said his son "didn't mean anything" by saying he could make another boy invisible by placing the ring- or as the creature Gollum calls it "my precious"- on the boy's head.
"I assure you my son lacks the magical powers necessary to threaten his friend's existence," Steward told the Daily News.
"If he did, I'm sure he'd bring him right back."
