A kindergartner said his backpack might explode. His school called it ‘terroristic’

Parents are upset that their 5-year-old son's "pretend play" resulted in him being suspended from school, and said they want the disciplinary action removed from his permanent record.

Jackson Riley attends the Great Valley Academy public charter school in Modesto and was suspended for a day last month for making terrorist threats, TV station Fox 40 reports.

The boy refused to remove his backpack, telling a teacher there was a bomb in it that would explode if he took it off, his mother, Michelle Riley, told Fox 40. Though it was "all in the world of pretend play," she said, his not wanting to take off the backpack meant Jackson didn't want to hurt anyone. "Where was the threat?"

Jackson's dad, Ian Riley, said the school initially sent a letter saying the child was suspended for his intent to "threaten, intimidate or harass others."

When the Rileys pointed out that school code applied only to fourth- through 12th-graders, they told Fox, the school agreed and so sent a second letter to apply to a code about making terrorist threats. KSLA News 12 said the letter stated Jackson “made terroristic threats towards school officials.”

Great Valley Academy would not comment on the specific case, Fox 40 reported, but issued a statement saying it takes student safety and discipline very seriously.

This story was originally published September 20, 2017 at 10:04 AM with the headline "A kindergartner said his backpack might explode. His school called it ‘terroristic’."