A Florida student aged just 11 has been arrested after refusing to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, calling it racist to black people and then allegedly threatening his teacher.

The schoolboy was kicked out of class Lawton Chiles Middle Academy in Lakeland after refusing to stand, Bay News 9 reports.

He was arrested by the school resource officer and taken to a juvenile detention center after allegedly refusing to follow multiple commands.

According to the arrest affidavit he also repeatedly called school leaders racist and threatened to get staff fired.

The report says the boy, who doesn't normally stand for the pledge, said: 'I'm going to beat that teacher. I'm going to get all of you fired.' He denies threatening to beat the teacher.

The boy's mother, Dhakira Talbot, pictured, said any disciplinary action should have been 'handled differently' and that he shouldn't have been arrested

The schoolboy was kicked out of class Lawton Chiles Middle Academy in Lakeland, pictured

Trouble is said to have flared when a substitute teacher asked the youngster to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.

When he refused, saying the flag and national anthem were offensive to black people, the teacher said she asked: 'Why if it was so bad here he did not go to another place to live.

The boy is said to have replied: 'They brought me here.'

In a statement to the district the teacher said she answered: 'Well you can always go back, because I came here from Cuba and the day I feel I'm not welcome here anymore I would find another place to live.'

'Then I had to call the office because I did not want to continue dealing with him.'

Now his mother, Dhakira Talbot, said any disciplinary action should have been taken by the school, not law enforcement.

She told Bay News 9: 'I'm upset, I'm angry. I'm hurt. More so for my son. My son has never been through anything like this. I feel like this should've been handled differently.

'If any disciplinary action should've been taken, it should've been with the school. He shouldn't have been arrested.

'She was wrong. She was way out of place. If she felt like there was an issue with my son not standing for the flag, she should've resolved that in a way different manner than she did.

'I want the charges dropped and I want the school to be held accountable for what happened because it shouldn't have been handled the way it was handled.'

The substitute teacher, who did not know students do not have to participate in the Pledge of Allegiance, wrote this statement to the district

The boy was charged with disrupting a school function and resisting arrest without violence. The sixth grader was also suspended for three days.

A school district spokeswoman said students do not have to participate in the Pledge of Allegiance and children can opt out with written permission, but the substitute teacher wasn't aware of this.

It is understood the substitute will no longer work at any of the district's schools.