A 10-year-old boy in a small community west of Newmarket was called into his principal's office Monday morning, not to get a reprimand, but to receive an apology.
The boy had gotten in trouble for drawing a swastika on a school project, the cover of a story he wrote for class on an iPad.
When the teacher saw the swastika, the principal was immediately called over, his iPad taken away, and he was told he drew an inappropriate image. His classmates began calling him racist, according to dad Ian.
Ian tells NEWSTALK 1010 that the teacher and principal never looked into the context.
The boy's story is about two children being forced to fight for the Nazis, and how they try to escape. It is based on his family history.
Ian says his son was not trying to promote the Nazi ideology, and the teacher should have used it as a teachable moment.
"Here's a perfectly teachable moment for kids, why could this symbol be taken as something bad, or what was your story about - people did try to escape the Nazis," Ian says.
At a meeting Monday morning, Ian says the principal apologized to him and his son, admitting she had not looked into all the facts.
The class will now have a discussion about swastikas, the Second World War, and allow the grade 4 student to tell his family's story.