Schoolgirl searched in Philadelphia for having a gun made of PAPER

Melody Valentin was caught with the piece of paper by a classmate

A school staff member allegedly berated her and searched her

The girl was left shaken by the episode

A mother is furious with her daughter's school after she was punished for taking a 'gun' made out of paper to school.

Dianna Kelly, of south Philadelphia, says staff at D.Newlin Fell School over-reacted when fifth-grader Melody Valentin was noticed taking it out of her pocket by another pupil.



She was scolded in front of the class, threatened with the police being called and even searched with other children watching the whole time, reported Fox 29 .

Dianna Kelly says staff at her daughter Melody's school overreacted when she was found with a paper gun

Melody was given the folded piece of paper by her grandfather the day before and claims she only got it out to throw away as she had forgotten it was in her pocket.



A boy saw the crudely-folded piece of paper and called staff.

'He yelled at me and said I shouldn't have brought the gun to school and I kept telling him it was a paper gun but he wouldn't listen,' Melody said.



She added that her classmates had taunted her, calling her a 'murderer'.

Ms Kelly says he daughter was punished so severely she has since been suffering from terrifying dreams.



She said: 'I'm waking up at 3am and my daughter is in the bathroom crying. She's saying "I'm having nightmares, I'm having dreams about him (a school staff member) chasing me down the street".



'Why did he threaten my daughter? Why did he stand over my daughter and tell her that he should call the cops on her. Why did he try to scare her?'



Melody says other children taunted her, calling her a 'murderer' after she was disciplined

The paper gun Melody was admonished for looked very much like this one

The School District of Philadelphia told Fox 29 they were investigating and could not comment on the matter.

In the meantime, Kelly says she doesn't want her daughter at the school and may even place her in another.

Schools in America are currently jittery over security because of the Sandy Hook tragedy, where twenty first-graders and six teachers were killed by gunman Adam Lanza.

A debate has been raging over gun control, with pro-gun lobbyists saying teachers should be armed to deter similar tragedies in the future.





