Maria Arpa
This week
School Photos
Plus…
Maria’s Midweek Mindfulness
and
The Wednesday Whisper
Why we need laws for equality
In the news, a school in Scotland sent out links to the school photos which had a link to a whole class photo and another link to a class photo leaving out children with additional needs.
The school claims they had no idea. The photo Agency, Tempest, who have been doing school photography for many years claim they had no idea and are conducting an investigation. They contract local photographers and, presumably take a fee or commission. We all remember the school photographer who gathered us in groups and individually as the teachers stood by. I am trying to imagine how it happened and can’t for the life of me understand it.
Parents are upset and furious. One parent said that her 9 year old daughter, a wheelchair user, was removed from an alternative photo, with her twin sister. Children were literally being erased from history.
I have no doubt that the photographer or whoever made that decision was totally oblivious to what they were doing. I doubt for one minute that it was a conscious hostile act. And that’s the problem. Being oblivious, unaware or ignorant is what makes society unsafe for people whose needs are different, additional or in the minority.
And, in the absence of dialogue, that is why anti-discrimination laws are made. It’s a sad way to educate people but there it is.
Maria’s Midweek Mindfulness
The DRM visits how we look at ourselves, others and the world around us. It invites us to examine whether our views are life serving.
The Wednesday Whisper
Have you ever been discriminated against? Did it happen to you as a child? What happened to you? How does it affect you now?
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