Kids get all kinds of certificates and trophies for recognition at school these days, including awards for not missing a day of school all year. Some parents are happy for their kids’ perfect attendance, but one mom in the U.K. decided to take a stand and not have her son accept his award.
Author and mom Rachel Wright explains why she had her son decline his attendance award in a
- “We don’t reward luck”- She says her family thinks of as many reasons to praise their children as possible, but “being lucky enough to not get sick isn’t one of them.”
- “Perfect attendance awards can demonize the weakest”- She doesn’t like the message these awards send to kids who can’t come to school every day because they’re sick or for some other reason. She writes, “In this family, you are not shamed for ill health, vulnerability or weakness.”
- “He had no control over his attendance”- Wright has a good point here, kids don’t get to call the shots about when they can and can’t go to school. She jokes that maybe the awards should go to parents for doing the work to get their children to school every day.
Wright’s post received thousands of comments, some agreeing with her and others that felt it was important to let kids accept these awards because they can boost self-esteem. Some parents say their kids don’t get academic or sports awards and the perfect attendance award is the only one they get, so they need that “head up high” moment.
Source:Working Mother