Boy who drew gun known for acting out, other parents say

EAGLE POINT, Ore. – The case of a 6-year-old boy who was sent home from school in this southern Oregon town after drawing a stick figure shooting another with a gun has drawn widespread attention – and plenty of criticism.

But parents of Ryan Weathers’ classmates say the drawing was just another in a string of inappropriate behavior by the child.

“Not a day went by where my daughter didn’t come home saying that Ryan had hit or kicked her,” the father of one of the children in the class told the Mail Tribune newspaper of Medford, Ore. He requested anonymity from the newspaper because he feared a backlash against his daughter.

Douglas Weathers, Ryan’s father, said his son is not violent and the school overreacted to his son’s imitating something he saw on “The Simpsons.”

Weathers said he was not aware that parents had previously called the school with concerns about his son’s behavior.

“This is new to me,” Weathers said. “If they had a problem, why wasn’t I contacted before now?”

Weathers said he expects the school to issue his family an apology and to lift Ryan’s suspension.