Student’s Joke About Math Symbol Could Get Him Expelled!

Math is hard, but it should not require police intervention. That’s exactly what happened in Louisiana when police were called when students mistook a square root symbol for a gun and one of the students made a joke about it.

An Oberlin High School student’s home was searched for possible terrorist threats by authorities after a discussion about the math symbol.

A student claimed the symbol looked like a gun, and students thought the joke he made about that symbol was a threat.

Police searched that student’s home and didn’t find any evidence of guns or terrorist plans. The student was cleared of having any weapons of math destruction, or mass destruction.

This happened following the mass shooting at a Parkland, Florida high school. The students were apparently so concerned that they brought math into the equation of being harmed. It is hard to imagine police taking this call seriously, but they did.

More information is in the video below.

Even though the student isn’t facing charges, he isn’t allowed on school property and is facing an expulsion hearing. Allen Parish School District Superintendent Michael Doucet explained that it was a poorly timed joke that has caused this student so much harm.

“The students were working together, and a student made a math symbol of a square root sign, which kind of looks like a pistol. And he was helping a weaker student, and the student says, ‘Well, that looks like a pistol!’ And he just made a comment [like] ‘let’s just get to work before I shoot you with a pistol,” the Superintendent said.

“The student used extremely poor judgment in making the comment,” a post on the Allen Parish Sheriff’s Office Facebook page stated. “But in light of the actual circumstances, there was clearly no evidence to support criminal charges.”

Perhaps authorities and schools should be more focused on credible threats, such as the dozens that were made regarding Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz. Jokes regarding math problems shouldn’t require a warrant and expulsion.

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Source: Miami Herald