A teenager who was suspended from school for using a news photograph containing a controversial protest slogan as part of his profile picture, is contemplating a new life abroad in spite of a deep attachment to his adopted city.

Gary — not his real name — made headlines earlier this month when Heung To Middle School handed him a week-long suspension after an image of a flag bearing the words “free Hong Kong, revolution now” was spotted in the profile picture of an account he was using for online lessons.

Hong Kong authorities have claimed that the slogan, and phrases similar to it, breach the sweeping Beijing-imposed national security law that came into effect in June.

In an interview with Apple Daily, the form four student insisted he had done nothing wrong, but revealed his family had helped him apply for a leave of absence from school and was considering sending him abroad to study.

“The [school] is incapable of tolerating alternative voices and there are some who choose to see through red-tinted glasses,” he said, referring to the 75-year-old school’s conservative and pro-Beijing disposition.

“They’ve accused me of using an icon [avatar] to subvert the country, but it was actually just a normal photograph from the news.”

In a statement published after the suspension went public, school principal Wong Chung-leung defended the move and said the punishment was part of an established mechanism that let students “reflect on and correct their mistake.”

“We have always attached great importance to students' moral education, teaching students to abide by the law, to distinguish between right and wrong, and to recognize their sense of identity as Chinese nationals,” Wong said.

Gary, who moved from Guangzhou when he was in form one, said that before the rise of the anti-government protest movement he was a “Hong Kong pig” — local slang for someone who cares little for social or political issues.

Things changed and Gary was inspired to become a student reporter after witnessing a massive and peaceful march through the rain in August last year. His conversion came despite the disapproval of his parents, who do not share his political views — he recalls once receiving an earful from his mother after coming home doused in pepper spray.

The experiences gained over the past year have only reinforced his feeling that Hong Kong is his home and fired his passion to become a journalist, Gary said. On the other hand, they also killed off any remnants of an earlier ambition to join the police: “If I did join the police, I would feel ashamed,” he said.

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