A mum in the US has been left reeling after her son received a ‘zero award’ at school.
WAPT Reports that Mississippi mother Patricia Barkley recalled as she went to pick up her son, from Leake Central Junior High.
She said when her eighth grader got in the car he was ‘balled up’ and ‘ashamed’.
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She told the outlet that her teenage son received a ‘horrible award’ from his teacher that read: "It's impossible to be me. Don't try. You'll never find a solution."
After discovering why her son was so upset, Barkley said she was extremely emotional and contacted the school to ensure it never happened again.
"I'm going to do what I can do for this to never happen again,” she said.
“Not just to [my son], but any child."
Despite complaining about the award numerous times to the Leake County Schools superintendent, they still have not remedied the situation.
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"I don't know [why they did it]. That's why I called the superintendent's office to find out," Buckley said.
Buckley also shared that although she wants her son to return to school, she is now considering enrolling him somewhere else.
The incident comes a few months after a mum slammed a teacher as ‘racist’ for giving her son, a Black student, the ‘Monkey Award’ at Batesville Elementary School.
Shemekia Ellis was extremely ‘angry’ when her son brought home the ‘offensive’ award.
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Though the school insisted the award was given out due to her son's ‘energy’, she noted the teacher's ignorance for not realising the history of the racist trope, according to Newsweek.
She told a WMC reporter: "I'm still not happy about it. I'm angry because I don't understand why my son got the monkey award when he received an award that he had completed Pre-K.”
Following the award, Ellis complained to the school, but they maintained her son was given the award during an ‘animal-themed award ceremony’, and he was recognised for ‘entertaining’ his peers.
And although the school promised not to hold award ceremonies of that nature in future, Ellis is still demanding an apology for the racist gesture.
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She said: “The superintendent knew they were wrong, the principal knew they were wrong. So, they need to be held accountable for what they have done."
Charisa Bossinakis