KANSAS CITY, Mo. – School officials recently punished a blind Kansas City 8-year-old by taking away his cane and giving him a pool noodle instead.

“It’s a lot harder with this,” Gracemor Elementary School student Dakota Nafzinger said of the noodle.

“Why would you do that? Why would you take the one thing he’s supposed to use all the time? That’s his eyes,” Dakota’s mother, Rachel Nafzinger, told Fox 4.

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North Kansas City School District spokeswoman Michelle Cronk said the cane belongs to the school, and was given to Dakota when he enrolled. She alleges the boy hit another student with it on the bus and school officials made the switch to prevent him from hurting someone.

“They said they were going to give me this for the next two weeks,” Dakota said.

Dakota’s father told the news site his son often lifts his cane, but hasn’t been known to use it irresponsibly.

“All around, he’s a good little guy, and he shouldn’t be treated the way he’s being treated,” Donald Nafzinger said.

Cronk said school officials gave him the pool noodle because the child fidgets without something to hold. But Dakota, who was born without eyes, contends he’s lost without his cane.

“Can’t feel things,” he told Fox.

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Rachel Nafzinger acknowledged that her son was written up for his behavior on the bus, but believes school officials went too far in taking away his only means to see, Inquisitr.com reports.

“He’s gone through so much in his life already, 8 years … and I just don’t like someone else putting my son in that position,” she said. “If I don’t stand up for him, who is going to?”

She believes school officials aimed to humiliate him for allegedly misbehaving.

Many readers were livid over the school’s decision.

“An obvious violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Let the lawsuits begin,” Anne Mckinney-Page posted on Opposingviews.com, garnering 23 “Likes.”

Mary-Belle Colon also believes the parents should hold school officials accountable for the incident.

“WTF I wrong with schools these days?!! Are they stupid of just ignorant?!” she posted. “If the boy hit someone with the cane, there are other ways to discipline him, not taking away something he needs to move around! I could be dangerous for him to walk around without his cane!

“The pool noodle is not meant to be used like a cane! It’s ridiculous! The parents should sue the school district!”

Thomas Taylor also said “the school should not have taken way the cane.

“Giving the blind kid a pool noodle to replace his cane?” he posted. “That is just plain idiotic.”

Fox reports that after its news broadcast, a concerned resident called in and offered to purchase Dakota a cane school officials can’t take away.