[url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/8530271.stm ]This story[/url] has been in the news for a couple of months now up here, particularly in the Press and Journal. A primary school trip to an outdoor centre was cancelled at the last minute over fears it was discriminating against a child who uses a wheelchair. A second trip organised to replace the first one has also been criticised by the child's mother who has now taken her child out of the school.
Is the mother going over the top or is she right to complain?
She added: "My daughter had put forward several viable alternative options such as a red-carpet film premiere, with pre-film makeovers and a post-film VIP marquee party. Everyone could have participated in and contributed to this.
Does she really think that is a viable option?
Why should the majority suffer because she is disabled?
I feel excluded and discriminated against because I'm an adult and don't live in Inverness.
No-one would turn a hair if the athletically gifted children were taken to an athletic meet.
It's the same principle, horses for courses.
I think the mother is going over the top, to say the least. How is taking her child away from her school and friends good for her?
I still have fond memories of Alrewas Outdoor Centre, twenty years on. Although it's sad that the little girl can't participate in everything because of her disabilities, is it really fair to deny those experiences for the other kids?
""My daughter had put forward several viable alternative options such as a red-carpet film premiere, with pre-film makeovers and a post-film VIP marquee party."
Er, not really the same as walking through the Peak District, or archery, or kayaking down the canal. :/ And besides, I imagine a lot of the kids (or their parents) wouldn't be happy with the idea of a 'pre-film makeover'.
Yeah, when I was six the idea of a pre-film makeover would have thrilled me. Not.
I know that we strive to allow people with disabilities to enjoy the same activities as able-bodied people and that this, on the whole, is a good thing.
However, is it not time to accept that there are some things that people with physical disabilities simply can't do?
I'm sure the disabled girl in this article did feel a bit excluded, but that's no reason to deny the rest of her able-bodied classmates their school trip.
In fact, she was probably made to feel a lot more excluded when those classmates found out exactly why they've missed their school trip.
Would they have cancelled a trip to something like "Go Ape" if one of the class suffered from Vertigo, or a trip to the zoo due to severe arachnophobia? I don't think so...
I know when I was at school, they didn't cancel school trips when some of the pupils couldn't afford to go, and this is no different.
As for the suggested alternative, it's not very educational or character building is it?