Parent vs School: Nobody Wins

While I was browsing the news today, I stumbled across a headline that made me cringe. It read "School bans disabled girl from using walker." To be honest, I was really curious about it. After all, who would really tell a child that she was not allowed to use her walker, her only means of being able to get around without using a wheelchair?

The article and video show how a 5-year-old girl with cerebral palsy, whose mother was told that she may never walk when she was adopted, has been able to get on her feet and get around with the help of a walker. She may have her moments when she is tired or when she trips, but then again, so do most children. So why are the school officials now saying that she needs to be confined to her wheelchair?

According to one of the people who worked at the school, she was no longer allowed to use her walker in school because she tripped and fell. Honestly, can you show me a child who does not fall every now and then? Especially since walking for someone who was not supposed to be able to walk is most likely very difficult, it is understandable. However, why would they want to take away her only means of being able to move around on her own other than a wheelchair? She worked so hard for years to be able to walk like a normal person, and even though she is reliant on a walker, the school says that they are "looking out for her health" by confining her to her wheelchair and not allowing her to walk around with her walker.

This is. in my humble opinion, completely deplorable, and the mother got into a verbal argument with the principal after he gave her one big attitude about it. I can understand that the school wants her to be safe, but they also need to realize that kids fall-- it happens, so let's just suck it up and deal with it. The mother is now challenging this, and the school says that it is waiting on information from the doctor. Still, this little girl who has worked so hard to be able to walk is not allowed to do so, but instead has to get around school in a wheelchair. Is this fair? Can the school honestly say that it is looking after her best interests while at the same time taking away her freedom to move around on her own two legs, and making all of the work that she put in for a long time come to nothing for a majority of her day? How can they say that it is best for her to no longer be able to make progress in her walking while she is at school? It's not fair, and it's not right to tell someone who has worked so hard for so long that they are not allowed to do something that makes her more like a normal child.