OLIVE BRANCH, Miss. – What’s the difference between the number three and the gang sign for the Vice Lords?

Answer: There is no difference, according to school officials, and the student who used the sign deserves to be punished, even if he meant no harm.

That’s a lesson 15-year-old Dontadrian Bruce learned recently when he posed for a picture with his high science project at Olive Branch High School.

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Bruce flashed three fingers for the camera – which he contends represents the number three on his school football jersey – but school officials had a different take on his hand sign, NBC reports.

“You’re suspended because you’re holding up gang signs in this picture,” assistant principal Todd Nichols allegedly told Bruce after pulling him out of class last month, according to the teen.

“I was trying to tell my side and it was like they didn’t even care,” he told NBC. “They figured I was a gang member because of my color.”

Days after he was sent home from school, a district disciplinary officer placed Bruce on an indefinite suspension, with a recommendation for expulsion, according to the news site.

The school district, under intense public pressure, eventually reversed the suspension and invited the boy back to school under one year of probation. But Bruce, his family and supporters don’t believe the probation is warranted.

Bruce’s mother, Janet Hightower, explained to school officials that her son isn’t in a gang, and that he’s a responsible young man who earns As and Bs in school.

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Supporters of the shy, soft-spoken teen created a Facebook page that quickly garnered thousands of “Likes.” The ACLU and local NAACP chapter weighed in on the controversy, and 21 students – including Bruce’s brother – were suspended after they all posed for a picture with the same hand sign Bruce used.

Bruce’s football coach, Scott Samsel, also spoke out about the student-athlete’s irrational punishment.

Samsel, who has known Bruce for several years, said it’s highly unlikely any student would have time for football and gangs. The football season “is a year-long proposition,” the coach told NBC.

“We have our hands on ‘em year-round. A kid would have to be pretty crafty to be able to hide (gang affiliation) from us,” he said.

Bruce’s situation is far from unusual.

NBC reports the number of students suspended or expelled each year has increased by roughly 40 percent in the past four decades as more schools have implemented zero tolerance policies. Of the suspensions, government figures show 95 percent are for nonviolent behavior, according to the news site.