It was a normal recess for five-year-old Caitlin Miller when she found a stick that vaguely resembled a gun on the ground of her North Carolina school playground. She preceded to role-play as a castle guard with her friends, pretending to shoot any fortress intruders. However, this got her sent to the principal’s office and suspended for a full day. The school argued that Caitlin was violating school policies when she used the stick gun, a notion that received heavy backlash almost immediately. Caitlin’s mother, Brandy, posted a picture of the stick gun to Facebook and proceeded to demand an apology from the school.

While this caused a huge uproar on social media and news outlets alike, it’s actually not uncommon in schools these days. Many other reports of children being suspended or even expelled for these types of role-playing have been circulating, and it shows no sign of stopping.