In 2019, A school that offered a memorable end-of-year field trip to children with perfect attendance decided to exclude a little girl from participating because she missed a single day of school. Usually, many of us would shrug and say the rules are the rules; perfect attendance means perfect attendance. However, in this child’s case, she missed school that day because she was attending her mother’s funeral.
Image Source: YouTube
A Child Unjustly Denied
Image Source: YouTube
The administrators at St. Giles Junior School in Bedworth, England, made their final decision when they refused to allow Maddie Stevens to join her classmates for a trip to a local restaurant called Frankie & Benny’s.
A Little Girl Loses Her Mom
Image Source: Pexels
Maddie’s mother passed away after a battle with breast cancer that lasted for two years. The little girl felt sad that she couldn’t go on the field trip and said that helping her mom over the last two years had been very difficult. Maddie’s dad, Andy, was distraught with how his daughter’s school decided to handle the matter.
Image Source: YouTube
He said his daughter only took a single day off as they both wished to honor her mom while finding some closure. He told a reporter that his daughter just kept on being amazing after her mom died and that he would criticize the school even if she had taken a week off to mourn her mom.
The School Finds Way to Make Things Worse
Image Source: YouTube
The whole situation was made worse when administrators at first didn’t even bother to issue an apology, despite being explained why the child was absent from school on that day.
Image Source: YouTube
It was only later that school administrators acknowledged the incident via a statement. They explained how after concerns were raised about Maddie’s case, they decided to no longer offer rewards for those students with perfect attendance.
Social Media Reacts
Image Source: YouTube
The story drew lots of reactions from the public as soon as it hit social media. Many people had harsh words for the administrators for not only their lack of judgment but also their complete lack of empathy. They agreed the father was correct in complaining about the school’s insensitive and unjust decision.
Image Source: YouTube
A few comments, however, stated that rules are rules and that even young school children could have made a “rational” choice.
Image Source: YouTube
However, most believe that schools rewarding students with perfect attendance need to use common sense and not penalize students who miss days due to valid reasons, such as attending their parents’ funeral or a medical issue.
Image Source: YouTube
You can also watch a video about Maddie’s story below.
Thanks for reading. Please be so kind as to pass this story along to your friends and family?
Sources:
- “Girl Banned From School Trip After Taking 1-Day off for Her Own Mom’s Funeral” Greenvillegazette.