For the second time in less than four weeks, six-year old children have been suspended from a Maryland elementary school for fashioning their hands in the shape of gun.

The first suspension took place in Montgomery County just before Christmas, and now, two more children have been suspended in Talbot County for “playing cops and robbers during recess and using their fingers to make an imaginary gun.” 

The parents of these kids are understandably outraged, and they are not alone. Maryland school leaders say they know suspensions have been on the rise, and they are trying to reverse that trend.

The suspension against Rodney Lynch, the six-year old who was suspended before Christmas, was dropped once his parents appealed the action.