Family demands teacher's ouster after she called student 'terrorist'

A family in a US county is demanding that a teacher of a local middle school be fired after she called a class 7 student a 'terrorist'.

Twelve-year-old Waleed Abushaaban is an honour student and said he had no idea why his teacher in First Colony Middle School called him a terrorist in front of his whole class on Thursday.

"(We) Were in the class watching a movie and I was just laughing at the movie and the teacher said, 'I wouldn't be laughing if I was you' and I asked why? She replied, because we all think you're a terrorist."

The school has removed the English and Language Arts teacher from the classroom while it investigates the incident. However, Waleed's family want her permanently dismissed.

"Just because my son is a Muslim doesn't mean he is a terrorist," said Malek Abushaaban, Waleed's father. "He's an American. He's as American as anybody else. He was born here... that's all he knows is how to be an American."

The Abushaaban family says Waleed will stay enrolled at First Colony Middle School and, in addition to firing the teacher in question, would like religious sensitivity training for both students and teachers.