“Armed” 6th-Grader Suspended from School for Carrying Lighter

A New Jersey sixth grader was suspended from school Wednesday for coming to class armed with a lighter.

11-year old Owen Halpin of Jamesburg, New Jersey is an honor student and a Boy Scout.

His father says while on his way to school his son saw the lighter on the ground, picked it up and brought it into the building.

The principal called the police and suspended the boy for one day.

His father says while he agrees his son should not have brought the lighter into the school, he calls the prinicipal's reaction over the top.

"Since when is a lighter a weapon. The punishment does not fit the infraction."

At a Jamesburg Board of Education meeting, the Superintendent of the district, Gail Verona, would not comment on the specifics of the incident, except to say, "We do everything we can to keep our students safe."

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