And You Don’t Even Want To Know What They Did To Mel Gibson

If you’re a parent like me, you might view this picture as a classic example of second-grader artistry.

But if you’re a school official in Taunton, MA, you see it as a sign of potential psychosis.

A Taunton father is outraged after his 8-year-old son was sent home from school and required to undergo a psychological evaluation after drawing a stick-figure picture of Jesus Christ on the cross.

The father said he got a call earlier this month from Maxham Elementary School informing him that his son, a second-grade student, had created a violent drawing. The image in question depicted a crucified Jesus with Xs covering his eyes to signify that he had died on the cross. The boy wrote his name above the cross.

OK, ya got me.  The crucifixion of Christ certainly was violent.  So were the battles of Lexington and Concord.  Does little Johnny get suspended for drawing them, too?  And how clueless is a teacher who sees a drawing of Jesus on the cross and goes “Hey, wait a minute…you’re drawing that guy as DEAD!  Oh, no!  You’re gonna kill Jesus!”

Of course he’s dead.  That’s the point. It’s not like the kid drew Santa dead, or a parent or classmate.  And even if he had—it’s a drawing.  Does everybody have to get a mental evaluation every single time they do anything that doesn’t involve butterflies, rainbows and calls for a cap on CO2 emissions?

The Taunton superintendent is standing by their “safety protocols.”  This is the same school system, by the way, that called the police when a 10-year-old drew a stick figure apparently shooting a teacher and classmate (the drawing was almost illegible).  The police! Over a pencil drawing by a kid.

There are definitely some folks in the Taunton school system who need a mental evaluation.  But the boy who drew Jesus isn’t one of them.

UPDATE! Taunton’s self-declared nickname: The Christmas City.