Boy, 11, Expelled in Michigan After Dismantling Classmate’s Gun
In Lansing, Michigan, a mother is fighting for her son’s future after he was expelled under extraordinary circumstances.
Savitra McClurkin says her 11-year-old son was handed a loaded gun by another student inside a school bathroom last May.
Drawing on the hunting and gun safety lessons he had learned from his godfather, he decided he could not carry the weapon all day. Instead, he took it to class, dismantled it in front of others, placed the parts in a heater, and threw the bullets into a trash can.
What his mother thought showed quick thinking and instinct for safety, the school district viewed differently. After a disciplinary hearing and review of evidence, her son was expelled from Dwight Rich School of the Arts.
The district has since defended its decision, saying it was based on safety and procedure, though it insisted disarming another student alone would not have warranted punishment.
Police took the student who originally brought the firearm into custody, but her son remains shut out of classrooms. McClurkin says he has been denied entry to four other schools because of the expulsion on his record.
In the meantime, she keeps him occupied with sports and an unaccredited online program, while continuing to push for answers from the school board.
“He’s only 11, never been in trouble before,” she told district leaders. “All I’m trying to do is make sure my son gets an education.”
At the heart of the case is a larger question: should one fearful decision define a child’s future, or should the focus be on his right to safety and uninterrupted education? Under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, every child has the right to learn and to be treated in a way that considers their best interests. The boy’s story is a reminder of how fragile those rights can be when systems fail to see the child behind the mistake.
