A furious mom accused her young son’s school of child neglect after a teacher poured the 5-year-old’s healthy juice down the drain.
According to 34-year-old Stephanie Lapham from Bristol, UK, her son Rocky was left traumatized after his teacher poured away his blackcurrant juice in an attempt to follow the school’s water-only policy.
Following the incident at the Blackhorse Primary School, Rocky allegedly returned home in tears and dehydrated because he refused to drink water for the rest of the day after seeing his favorite juice get wasted.
“Rocky returned to school on Monday after the summer holidays and went into Year One with a new teacher. He came home from school on Tuesday complaining of a headache all evening, really upset and holding his head,” Stephanie explained.
“He has speech and language development issues, so when he was crying and told me on Tuesday night that his teacher had poured his drink down the sink, I thought he must have got that wrong and there was no way that happened.
“As I was dropping him off to school the next day, l thought I’d quickly pop over to check with the teacher, and she said, ‘Yeah that’s right – school policy is water.’
“I said, ‘So are you saying on the hottest day of the year you poured my son’s drink away?’ I told her Rocky had been crying all night. Number one it’s sugar-free, but two, it’s nothing to do with her. It’s a sealed [opaque] bottle and she went out of her way to look inside. They’re there to learn.”
After realizing what had happened to her son at school, Stephanie went on to confront the headteacher who reassured her that her son would be allowed to drink blackcurrant juice at the school for several weeks until mid-term.
As for Rocky’s mom, she still finds it hard to comprehend why the school allows different options on the menu while banning children from drinking anything but water.
“He will not drink water. We will go on holiday and have to take bottles of squash, because he’s so particular and he likes routine. For his school dinner he has a plain ham sandwich every day without fail,” Stephanie added.
“Am I happy with that? Not really, but at least he’s having something, and it’s the same with the squash. I can’t help it if he won’t drink water. It’s not their place to judge.”
What are your thoughts on this matter? Let us know in the comments and don’t forget to SHARE this post with your family and friends. For more news and stories, follow us on Facebook!