I am a huge fan of filmmaker Peter Jackson’s adaptions of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” literary masterpieces.
Naturally, when I saw the headline, “Texas boy suspended for saying he could make classmate ‘disappear’ with ‘Lord of the Rings’ sorcery,” I had to click on the link to read the full story.
According to New York Daily News, 9-year-old Aiden Steward was suspended from a school in Kermit, Texas because he told his friend he could make him disappear just like Bilbo Baggins in the movie.
The father stated in the story that his son recently watched the “The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies.”
Kermit Elementary School officials considered Aiden’s statement as a “threat” towards the other boy, the article states.
Now, in my opinion, there seemed to be nothing malicious about Aiden wanting to use his imagination to spark an interesting role-playing adventure with his friend.
With the number of children that are glued to their television sets playing video games or watching cartoons, there is definitely a lack of imagination in today’s children.
When I was a little girl, my sister and I pretended we were nurses and would give each other shots and utilize our Cabbage Patch dolls as hospital patients.
Some little boys enjoy playing cowboys and Indians.
It would seem that Aiden, as do I, thought it was neat to have in one’s possession a ring that would render the wearer invisible and maybe wanted to share his movie experience with his friend.
My favorite quote from Aiden’s father is, “I assure you my son lacks the magical powers necessary to threaten his friend’s existence. If he did, I’m sure he’d bring him right back.”
The school principal declined to comment on the incident, according to news sources.
I realize school officials are charged with the enormous task of keeping their students safe during the course of a school day.
In this day and age, there are many new threats that didn’t exist when I was a student in school.
For the most part, I commend them on a job well done, but in this instance; I’m afraid I would have to disagree.
In my opinion, this seemingly intuitive little boy was using his creative devices to have some fun with his friend. A child’s imagination is a wonderful thing to behold and I’m hoping this incident does nothing to hinder his future imaginative brilliance. For all we know, he could be the world’s next Van Gogh, Beethoven, J.R.R. Tolkien or Peter Jackson