A second-grader in Birmingham returned home from school with a bullet wound painted on his forehead. The boy’s teacher applied the makeup. 

Now, his upset mother is speaking out, saying, “this actually happens to our black young men,” AL.com reports. 

Zakiya Milhouse shared the photo of her son, Amonn Jackson, 7, on Facebook Tuesday (October 15). 

The second-grader at Phillips Academy in downtown Birmingham can be seen with a small bullet hold painted on his forehead.

“So they did this in drama class and my boy said the teacher said it’s like he got shot,” Milhouse wrote in her Facebook post. “I don’t like that sh**! I don’t care if it’s Halloween or NOT! A bullet hole in the head.” She added two angry emojis at the end of her message. 

“It looked so real in person, that it looked like something happened,” the concerned mother told AL.com. 

“It was supposed to be a gunshot wound,” she said. “That’s when I got upset. A gunshot wound.” 

Milhouse didn’t feel that putting makeup on a child to mimic a bullet wound was an appropriate school lesson, AL.com reports. 

“This actually happens to our black young men,” she said. “If you saw it in person, it looked real.” 

The principal of the school empathized with her, calling the teacher’s actions “unacceptable,” according to Milhouse.

The teacher, who teaches drama at the school, also apologized but Milhouse said, “He didn’t think it was a real big deal. He said he did paint on different kids such as black eyes. He said he was going to take it out of his lesson plan.” 

Although she admitted she signed a permission form for the use of the makeup in drama class, Milhouse said, “A bullet wound -- that’s too much.” 

“Birmingham City Schools is aware of an image posted by a parent on social media depicting a wound on a student’s head,” school officials said in a statement. “The student was participating in a theater class unit on stage, film, and special effects.”

The school also stated that all the students participating in the lesson had a choice of where they’d like the makeup, and Amonn chose his face. Students were also given the option to skip a design, AL.com reports.

The teacher, whose name was not released, told Milhouse there was no malice behind the depiction and explained the lesson was intended to help students appreciate and understand the technical elements of performing arts.

“As a culturally responsive school system, Birmingham City Schools takes issues like this very seriously and does not condone the graphic nature of this lesson on special effects,” school officials stated. “We regret any issues and perceptions this incident may have caused, and this portion of the lesson will be removed from the unit.”