Ban: Owen Whitney, 14, was suspended from school after a light-hearted YouTube video of him rapping about his friend's cricket skills was branded a hate crime by teachers

A teenager was suspended from school after a light-hearted YouTube video of him rapping about his friend's cricket skills was branded a hate crime by teachers.

Owen Whitney, 14, was given a three-day ban after staff took issue with the footage of him 'calling out' a friend for being bad at cricket and playing X-Box all day.

The recording was part of a rap battle trend going around his school where pupils have apparently been posting videos about each other to try to provoke responses.

The craze has been adapted from grime artists using 'callout' videos to mock each other through their rhymes.

Owen's parents Emma and Alan Whitney claim their son was singled out as the ringleader because his video was the first to appear online and he was suspended for three days.

Mrs Whitney, 38, said: 'There's nothing generally offensive in it, and they haven't even complained about my son's, but about someone else's.

'They called it a hate crime - for me a hate crime has got to be saying something like "I'm going to kill you" or something racist hasn't it?

'There's nothing like that. It's just a bit of banter.'

The mother-of-five added: 'He went into school as normal on Thursday, but during his first lesson he was pulled out and spent the day sat outside teachers offices.

'They gave him a piece to write about hate crime and why it was wrong.

Rap battle: Owen was given a three-day ban after teachers took issue with the footage (pictured) of him 'calling out' a friend for being bad at cricket and playing X-Box all day

'Since then I've had a letter from the school which has changed what they are accusing him of from a hate crime to bullying.

'The school say they have a zero tolerance policy to bullying.

'But that's not true as Owen has been targeted on social media in the past and when he has gone to the school to report it they said there is nothing they can do because it is outside school.'

Mrs Whitney says it was unfair that the Year 10 pupil, who is predicted As and A*s in his GCSEs, had been excluded for the video that took place outside school time, away from the school and while he was not wearing school uniform.

She also claims her son had permission from the friend Owen was 'calling out'.

Mrs Whitney said she has been told she must attend a meeting at All Saints' Catholic Academy, Mansfield, in Nottinghamshire, at 8am on Wednesday to talk about Owen being allowed back into class.

Video: The recording was part of a rap battle trend going around his school where pupils have apparently been posting videos about each other to try to provoke responses

Until then Owen will have to remain at home with his parents facing two separate fines, one for taking him back to school, and one for allowing him in a public place during school hours, between £60 and £120 if they try and get him back to school before then.

Mrs Whitney added: 'We have been told if we now take him to school before Wednesday someone from the local authority may be there and we will be fined.

'He has been given some booklets and some bits to read and maths sheets to do but basically he will have to teach himself for the next two days.'

Owen, from Mansfield, said: 'I'm quite into Grime, I also enjoy drama at school and I watch people on other grime channels.

'Everyone is doing them at the moment and basically one of my mates dared me to do a video of me rapping.

'We asked the lad who we were calling out if we could do it and he said it was fine.

'I did it six weeks ago so to suddenly be pulled out of lessons and made to write a piece on hate crime is quite demoralising.

'It was recorded on my mate's phone and he then posted it on Facebook and it went on a grime page where it got 7,000 views.

'I didn't even write the lyrics, that was my mate that filmed it.

'I'm upset because it's affecting my learning. It's what people are doing at the moment. I've seen some people's on there that are a lot worse, it's just because I did the first one that I'm the main offender.'

Mr Whitney, 48, said: 'It's absolutely pathetic - I'm flabbergasted. They've excluded my son for three days even though he didn't commit a crime.

His mother says she has been told she must attend a meeting at All Saints' Catholic Academy in Mansfield (pictured) at 8am on Wednesday to talk about Owen being allowed back into class

'If he had actually done something wrong, and on school grounds, I would be totally behind the school. But he did it in his own time six weeks ago. He's just blabbing about absolute rubbish, really.

'It's quite silly, about how a friend of his is lazy and always on his Xbox or something. I think he swears once or twice in it, but it's not remotely offensive.

'Now three or four others have gone online and done their own rap video, and they're a bit more offensive.

'One of the parents is obviously disgusted by it and complained to the school, and the school has investigated who started all this.'

Owen's video, which racked up 7,000 views, included the lyrics: 'You play video-games all day. It just shows how much you play COD (Call of Duty), and that your life is *****.'

'Yeah, you think you're good at cricket. Just 'cos you got one person out when you hit the wicket.

'When you bat I can't help but laugh. You can't hit the ball, you're absolutely ****.'