Disturbing reason 7-year-old boy was told he couldn't include an image of his little brother in school project (WARNING: emotionally disturbing images)

'We deal with it every day, one day at a time. It's been extremely difficult.'

Seven-year-old Nicholas Millsaps was told he wasn't allowed to include an image of his stillborn brother in a school project about his life. His parents, Cassandra and Eric Hess, were livid.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Millsaps, who lives in Parma, Ohio, was told to bring in pictures of his life and family for a school project. When he entered the classroom with his large poster with a colored-in outline of a backpack and the words "packed with stuff about me," as well as a few family photos including his stillborn brother, his teacher told him to go home and start over.

Cassandra said, "The teacher then told him that she was not going to allow him to have that picture there. That he had to redo it."

FOX 8 got a comment from the Old Brooklyn Constellation Elementary school's principal, who said, "Given the age of the children in the class, we do not believe the subject of the photograph was appropriate. This decision was made in consideration of the best interests of all students in the class. I fully support the decision of the teacher."

Nicholas' mother and step-father, Cassandra and Eric Hess, were devastated when they discovered their son Noah was a stillborn. 

"He was stillborn at 36 weeks," Cassandra said. "The cord was wrapped around him four times and his heart had stopped. By the time we caught it, it was too late. We deal with it every day, one day at a time. It's been extremely difficult."

The family lost Noah only a few months ago, and kept several mementos of him around their home. The family took pictures with the infant at the hospital, had professional photos taken, kept the crib he was meant to sleep in and kept his nursery the same as it had been prepared for the new addition to their family.

Both Hess parents agreed to keep Nicholas fully aware of his younger brother and that he was born an angel. 

Pediatric psychologist Howard Hall, with University Hospitals, said there are no right or wrong ways to approach children about death, and believes the photos could have provided a teachable moment.

"You want to protect kids and help them if they've been traumatized.but [sic] just a pet comfortably dying or a relative who had a comfortable death, and they're around for that and it's okay, that can be okay and can be very positive," Hall explained.

Meanwhile, Cassandra will not force her son to change his project, saying, "...if they want to grade him lower, then they can grade him lower, because I refuse to make him feel as if he cannot be proud of his brother."

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