Taking class photos of students all together is customary at many schools. But at
a primary school in Aberdeenshire, UK, the photography company decided to use this as an opportunity to overtly discriminate against some students.
The company emailed parents of the young students,
offering to provide them with special class photos - that would remove all children with "complex needs" from the photographs.
The photography company offered this without the school's permission, and parents were justifiably outraged. Yet so far, it's not clear if the company has taken any corrective measures to ensure this never happens again. Sign the petition to demand accountability!Apparently, the company had chosen to produce two different rounds of pictures. First, they took photographs of most students all together, before teachers had brought in students who have disabilities or complex needs. Then, they took a second round of pictures once all the students were finally assembled together.
It is completely unacceptable to discriminate against children based on disabilities or additional support needs, and to literally erase them as though they were never a part of their class or school's history.Luckily, the school responded quickly to parents' complaints and immediately overrode the photography company's decision to offer a disability-free photo option. School leadership has stressed that their school is meant to be inclusive for all children, with no one being pushed out.
The photography company must make a similar statement and apologize, and take internal correct measures to prevent anything like this from happening in the future! Sign the petition to stand by all children.