A Philadelphia elementary school student was scolded and searched by administrators in front of her entire class after she pulled out a paper gun in class last week, according to her mother.
Melody Valentin's mother, Dianna Kelly, tells Fox 29 that school officials went too far when they reportedly punished her daughter for pulling out the gun, which she says looks like a folded sheet of paper.
Fox 29 reports that one of the fifth grader's classmates reportedly saw the paper gun and notified administrators as she was going to throw it away.
"He yelled at me and said I shouldn't have brought the gun to school and I kept telling him it was a paper gun but he wouldn't listen," Melody tells Fox 29.
Kelly says school staff searched her daughter while other students watched.
The gun was made by Melody's grandfather, according to Kelly, who says her daughter has suffered nightmares as a result of the incident.
Kelly says she is keeping Melody out of school to avoid harassment. Calls made by FOX 29 to district administrators were not returned.