Whoa, this teen is facing charges for throwing a carrot at her teacher

I eat baby carrots every single day as part of my lunch. They have been a food staple for me for years, and in all that time, it never occurred to me that I could assault someone with one.

A Virginia 8th grader is currently facing juvenile assault-and-battery charges after throwing a baby carrot at her teacher. The 13-year-old student, Aliya Nigro, has been suspended since the day after the incident, which occurred on September 21.

Aliya is an Honor Roll student at George Moody Middle School near Richmond and, according to her grandmother, has mostly been staying inside since the suspension due to embarrassment.

Aliya told the New York Post the whole thing was meant to be a funny prank. She said, “I was actually having a pretty decent day. I was in the hall and saw my French teacher who I had last year. It looked like she was holding books or papers. I figured if I got the carrot near her or on the papers, it would have been funny for her to look down and see it.”

Aliya also said she liked her old French teacher and thought they had gotten along. She even said she would have been happy to apologize to her, but, instead, she was suspended and charged with assault and battery with a weapon.

Remembering what it was like to be in 8th grade, I have to admit, I can absolutely see myself doing something silly like this. At 13, you often don’t think before you act. Shouldn’t adults understand that and respond to thoughtlessness with a modicum of empathy? Sure, a punishment for something like this makes sense, it was a disrespectful act, after all,  but missing school for a whole month and being faced with real legal consequences. This punishment really does not seem like it fits the crime.

Karrie May, Aliya’s mother, agrees. She told WTRV Channel 6 in Richmond, “I don’t even know how to combat the stupidity. I don’t understand this….. I can see a couple of days in school detention or even a couple days’ out-of-school suspension. But this goes way beyond that.”

Aliya finished her statement to the New York Post with, “It was just bad aim and bad judgment in the situation. I’m obviously sorry.”

This poor girl. She needs to be in school, not in the news.

Related:

This 8-year-old girl was suspended for wearing the wrong shade of green

This teen was really suspended for having “Ronald McDonald” hair

(Image via Shutterstock)