Did anyone else know that in England you had to receive advanced permission in order for your kids to miss school? No wonder America isn’t even in the top 10 for test scores. We can just cut school willy-nilly and go rot our brains with Mountain Dew and video games. Meanwhile, parents get fined in other countries when their kids skip school. Which can be a tad annoying, I guess. Like this British dad who just wanted to take his eight year-old son on a four day trip to Spain. (Aside: According to Google, 60 pounds = ~88 dollars).
Via Mirror:
“Irate Brent Catterson, 36, was told to cough up after taking his eight-year-old son Michael on a four-day trip to Majorca, Spain, without permission in May. But he had the last laugh when he dumped thousands of coins on a desk at the Telford & Wrekin Borough Council offices. Bemused staff looked on in amazement as Brent walked in carrying two buckets full of coins before leaving empty-handed seconds later.
He said: “I am a bit of a joker. I phoned up the local authority after they handed me the fine and the woman was a bit arrogant. I thought I can play that game too and I wanted to have the last laugh so I went to the bank and changed £60 in 1ps and 2ps. I told my best mate I was thinking of doing it and he dared me to do it so there was no going back from there. When I walked in and emptied the coins the staff couldn’t believe it. A man behind the counter was laughing and a woman who was working there was looking at my with her mouth open in amazement. I read the fine sheet and it didn’t say anything about not paying in cash. The council have called me since and confirmed that I’ve paid and have given me a receipt.”
Brent, of Telford, Shropshire, took the radical action after being slapped with a fine – despite Michael having an attendance rate of 91 per cent. Rather than appeal the decision, the co-owner of Steadfast Property Maintenance firm decided to take alternative action.
He said: “I don’t think what I did it that bad. My son’s got regular attendance and he’s only eight so it’s not like he got exams on or anything. Kids are like sponges at that age and he’s already caught up. I didn’t do it so much for the money. He is only eight and he’s not going to miss that much. It wasn’t too detrimental to his schooling. He hasn’t got any exams. I didn’t think it would do him a great deal of harm.”
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Honestly, I’m all aboard the Brent Train here. Fuck those politicians telling him when he can and can’t take his 8 year-old kid out of school. Since when is it ok to invade the freedom of a person in their child-rearing decisions. It wasn’t like the kid missed school every other week. He was in class 91% of the time. Which, in a 180-day school calendar, is still like 163 days of school. Beauty of America. We may be less successful in the classroom, but we can skip class as often as we want to.