A mother in Alabama had to do a double take when her second-grade son came home from school with a bullet wound painted on his forehead.

Zakiya Milhouse took to Facebook on Tuesday to express her anger with Phillip’s Academy in Birmingham, saying a drama class lesson was ignorant and culturally insensitive.

She claimed her son, seven-year-old Amonn Jackson, came home from school that day with a fake bullet wound painted on his forehead. The special-effects makeup looked so real Milhouse was worried something actually happened to her son. The makeup was a part of a drama class lesson on stage, film and special effects. When she realized it was special effects, she was outraged.

“So they did this in drama class and my boy said the teacher said it's like he got shot I don't like that s**t ! I don’t care if it’s Halloween or NOT ! A bullet hole in the head,” the Facebook post read.

After realizing the deeper connotations, Milhouse became even more disturbed with the incident, reports AL.com.

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

While Milhouse recognizes she did sign a permission slip for her son to participate in the lesson, she did not think mimicking a bullet wound on a child was appropriate.

“I had to fill out a permission form to give them permission,” she said. “A bullet wound – that’s too much."

When the principal learned of Milhouse’s disappointment, he called her to apologize.

“He said this was unacceptable,” Milhouse said of the phone call.

She also received an apology from the drama teacher who painted her son’s face but says he didn’t seem to understand the implications of his actions.

“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,” she said.

Birmingham City Schools issued a statement in response to the incident, reiterating the mother did sign a permission slip and condemning the graphic nature of the face paint. They claimed there was no ill will intended and that both the teacher and principal called the mother to apologize. The letter also stated that students are asked where they'd like their special effects placed on them and can opt out of the activity.

"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," the memo read. "We regret any issues and perceptions this incident may have caused, and this portion of the lesson will be removed from the unit."

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