Furious mom wants to know why bullet wound was painted on her son’s head
An art teacher thought painting a bullet wound on a child's forehead was a harmless idea, but his mother understands the implications
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A mother in Alabama is outraged after her son came home from school with a bullet wound painted on his head and is now demanding answers about how the adults supervising him could let such a thing happen.
According to AL.com, Tuesday, seven-year-old Amonn Jackson came home after being painted with special effects makeup, during his school’s drama class at Phillip’s Academy in Birmingham.
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When his mother Zakiya Milhouse saw what she believed to be a racially charged and culturally insensitive move by the school by the school faculty, she was furious and took to Facebook to shared a photo of her sons’s fake bullet wound.
“So they did this in drama class and my boy said the teacher said it’s like he got shot. I don’t like that s*** ! I don’t care if it’s Halloween or NOT ! A bullet hole in the head,” she wrote in distress.
Milhouse later told the press that her dismay quickly turned to anger as the implication of the makeup effect painted on her child sank in.
“This actually happens to our Black young men. If you saw it in person, it looked real,” Milhouse explained, conceding that while she did sign a permission slip allowing her son to wear makeup in drama class, this goes far beyond what could be considered reasonable.
“I had to fill out a permission form to give them permission. A bullet wound – that’s too much.”
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Once the principal of the school became aware of the photo circulating online, he called Milhouse to apologize for the incident and any grief it may have caused.
“He said this was unacceptable,” Milhouse recalled, but says that while the drama teacher who created the fake bullet wound also apologized, he didn’t initially see anything wrong with his actions.
“He didn’t think it was a real big deal,” she continued. “He said he did paint on different kids, such as black eyes. He said was going to take it out of his lesson plan.”
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In response to the incident, the Birmingham City Schools issued a statement, clarifying that none of the participating children were forced to wear makeup and, “The teacher also stated that the only aim in teaching makeup techniques is to help students appreciate and understand the technical elements of performing arts.”
“As a culturally responsive school system, Birmingham City Schools takes issues like this very seriously and does not condone the graphic nature of this lesson on special effects,” the statement continued, concluding, “We regret any issues and perceptions this incident may have caused, and this portion of the lesson will be removed from the unit.”
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