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The parents of a fifth grader are suing their son’s private school for expelling him after he texted rap lyrics and a squirt gun emoji to a classmate.
The boy’s parents argue in their petition that their son was kicked out of the elite Curtis School — where the children of Victoria and David Beckham attended — for “arbitrary and capricious” reasons, according to court documents obtained by the Los Angeles Times. They are seeking to reverse the expulsion and payment of legal fees.
The petition, filed on October 17 in Los Angeles Superior Court, names both the $38,000-a-year school and Head of School Meera Ratnesar.
On September 5 two 10-year-olds, who the parents say are friends, were emailing one another the lyrics to YNW Melly’s song “Murder on My Mind,” which includes references to guns and violent depictions.
Weeks later, on September 25, using school laptops while in math class, the pair exchanged emails again. The student in question reportedly wrote: “Shut up” and “I hate you” along with a few green squirt gun emojis.
He then wrote: “You dead yet.” The classmate replied: “No y.”
The two hung out during recess following this email exchange and also attended the school fair together at the Santa Monica Pier the next day, the Times reported.
Days later, the son met with the director of his grade, who threatened to take away his technology privileges, citing the emails.
On October 1 his parents met with Ratnesar, who told them their son was going to be expelled. The classmate involved in the exchange faced no disciplinary action, according to the Times.
“We are deeply disappointed by your decision to base expulsion on emails between two classmates who both showed a willingness to talk about guns based on a song’s lyrics,” the parents reportedly wrote in an email to Ratnesar the day after their meeting.
Ratnesar recognized that the classmate initiated the rap lyric emails, but appeared to take issue with their son’s participation in the exchange of violent rap lyrics in combination with the squirt gun emojis, according to the outlet.
The school head wrote the parents that their son’s “contribution of lyric lines in addition to continuing to communicate threatening emojis and language 20 days after the lyric exchange, is a serious infraction that we cannot ignore.”
The 10-year-old’s parents argued that their son is a straight-A student and has no history of trouble at the school. They questioned what school policy their son violated, adding that the allegedly offensive emojis were sent from a school laptop, meaning they are accessible on the school’s IT system.
The petition also accuses Ratnesar of having a history of “unequal and arbitrary treatment of students” and lists some reviews from school alumni making claims of this alleged unfair treatment.
The Independent has reached out to the Curtis School for comment.
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