SUMTER, S.C. – Jacob Nesbit didn’t know that bringing hot peppers to school “is considered contraband and is a Category III offense.”

Now he does.

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Bates Middle School officials suspended Nesbit for the remainder of his 8^th grade school year after the boy brought a bag of Carolina Reapers flakes to class to see if his friends could take the heat. He soon learned they could not, and school officials are holding Nesbit responsible for several who got sick, WLTX reports.

Lori Nesbitt Main said she recently bought her 14-year-old son a packet of the Carolina Reaper flakes because he wanted to try it, and he took the packet to school May 18.

“My friends, they knew I had it at home and they were asking me to bring it to school so that they could try it and I said ‘sure, why not?’” Jacob Nesbit said.

About 10 students willingly tasted the pepper and some ended up in the nurse’s office, though none of the students required medical attention and were ultimately fine. The Carolina Reaper is among the hottest peppers in the world, the Sumter Item reports.

“They said that it was considered a contraband because it was harmful to children,” Main told the news site. “She said that if one of the children had an allergic reaction it would have killed them.”

Main doesn’t think administrators’ rationale for the suspension makes sense.

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“If you have a child that is allergic to something, say peanut butter, they eat a peanut butter sandwich, well then the other child can be held responsible for them having an allergic reaction,” she said.

Sumter School District spokeswoman Shelly Galloway issued a prepared statement that Nesbit was disciplined because “bringing a harmful substance to school is considered contraband and is a Category III offense.”

Jacob’s punishment is a nine-day suspension that prohibits him from attending the school’s practice graduations, though he will be allowed back on school property for his actual 8^th grade graduation June 1, WYFF.

Ironically, the suspension document sent home with Nesbit notes that the incident was his first offense, and the student code of conduct calls for an in-school suspension or guidance referral the first time.

“I would’ve been fine if it was a day or two, it would’ve been totally understandable, but the fact that it was to the extent that they did, I think it was sort of out there,” Main said.

Numerous folks who commented about the situation online seem to agree.

“This is so overboard, it is ridiculous,” Tricia Flowers wrote. “Kids are not allowed to be kids anymore. Schools are making normal children feel like they are bad for doing completely normal things. Where has common sense gone? So sad.”

“This is absurd!” Janice Carothers added. “What if he brought in strawberries. Kid are allergic to that. Would that be considered contraband? He had no intent to harm. Kids are kids and no one got hurt so they went to the nurse, big deal, they were all fine! Now her son will have that on his report the next four years.”

“Hey, no problem. Nine days?” Bill Henshel wrote. “It’s pretty obvious the student would not have learned anything useful from these teachers/administrators. They are too pc to teach anyone anything. They took a teachable moment and turned it into the crime of the century.”