Muslim boy questioned by police after misspelling 'terraced' as 'terrorist'

A boy writes on a piece of paper.
(Image credit: iStock)

Police were called in Lancashire, England, when a 10-year-old student wrote in class that he lived in a "terrorist house." The boy, a Muslim, said he meant to say he lived in a "terraced house."

Under the 2015 Counter Terrorism and Security Act, teachers are legally obligated to notify authorities of any suspected extremist behavior, the BBC reports. Police officers went to the boy's home in December and interviewed him, and also examined his family's laptop; in a statement, Lancashire Police said no further action is required at this time. The boy's cousin, not named by the BBC, said the family was shocked and wants an apology. "You can imagine it happening to a 30-year-old man, but not to a young child," she said. "If the teacher had any concerns it should have been about his spelling." Now, she added, her cousin is "scared of writing, using his imagination."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.