Child's Spelling Error Leads to Police Questioning

'Terraced house' ended up 'terrorist house'
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 20, 2016 12:00 PM CST
Child's Spelling Error Leads to Police Questioning
Stock image   (Shutterstock)

A 10-year-old Muslim boy made a truly unfortunate spelling error at his UK school and ended up getting interviewed by police. The boy meant to write, as part of an English lesson, that he lived in a "terraced house," but accidentally wrote instead that he lived in a "terrorist house." The police stopped by the aforementioned house the following day and even examined the family laptop, and now the boy's family says it wants an apology for the December incident, the BBC reports.

"You can imagine it happening to a 30-year-old man, but not to a young child," his cousin tells the BBC. "If the teacher had any concerns it should have been about his spelling." Since July, as part of the UK's 2015 Counter Terrorism and Security Act, teachers have been legally obligated to report behavior that could be extremist, and some critics of the law say teachers are overreacting out of fear. The school is investigating a complaint filed about the incident, and police say that after the initial visit, "no further action was required." (More Britain stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X