Crayon "draws" school suspension for 10-year-old, federal court upholds it

(CBS/AP) NEW YORK - When a 10-year-old boy in suburban New York City made a crayon drawing that expressed a desire to blow up his school and its teachers, the boy was suspended from school for six days.

Acknowledging school violence nationwide, a federal appeals court in Manhattan Thursday upheld the boy's suspension, backing a prior lower court ruling.

The parents of the boy from Montgomery, N.Y., about 60 miles north of New York City, had contended their son's suspension was a violation of the First Amendment.

The decision by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan to uphold the suspension was not unanimous. One member of the three-judge panel said the drawing by the fifth grader was a crude joke that failed.

The 10-year-old boy was identified only as B.C. He was suspended after he showed his drawing to other classmates. They laughed, but one of them complained to the teacher.