Class photo fiasco is no surprise – I know some would like disabled people edited from society

Parents were given the choice to erase pupils with special needs from image

Schoolchildren can be merciless – from name-calling to teasing or more serious bullying – but the cruelty of children can be understood in the context of childhood naivete. We don’t come out of the womb knowing how to be considerate of each other’s diverse needs, characteristics, and experiences.

Children rely on adults to teach them respect, and to provide comfort when respect is not shown to us. Adults, in other words, are there to help us through the bad times. They are not meant to be the ones doing the bad things.

It’s understandable, then, that parents at Aboyne Primary School in Scotland, were left dismayed when a photography company that had recently shot the school’s class photographs offered them a choice between photos including the children with complex needs or photos without them.

Following complaints, Aberdeenshire Council said the school was not to blame for the decision to exclude the disabled children, and removed the link to the photos. But the damage had already been done.

Tempest Photography, the company at the centre of this, sent a statement to BBC Scotland, saying an internal investigation had been launched but that it had no further comment. I look forward to reading the excuse, but I can’t think of anything that would justify this.

Natalie Pinnell, whose daughter has additional needs and attends the school, told BBC Scotland that she “can’t understand how a human can think it’s OK to effectively give people the choice to erase children from their class and their history”.

Like Pinnell, I can’t imagine how somebody thinks this is OK. But, unfortunately, I know all too well that some people would see no issue with editing people with disabilities out of society.

As a disabled person, I’m acutely aware of the discrimination that takes place in society each day. I shouldn’t have to, but I can deal with bigoted attitudes because I’m an adult. Children can’t. Their biggest worry should be mastering their times tables.

When I read the original report about this incident, I thought of a painful experience that has stuck with me all these years.

When I was in sixth year, I cried hysterically when I was told that a classmate said I shouldn’t be in a “normal” class because my disability made me write slower than everybody else. Being told I didn’t belong because of my disability hurt me deeply but I was old enough to know my classmate was wrong. I fear younger kids, when being told similar things, wouldn’t comprehend this.

I don’t know where that classmate is now but I hope she has learned. It pains me to think that, left unchecked, teenagers who bully teenagers turn into adults who bully children. We can’t be complacent in addressing ableist attitudes.

In all of our conversations about woeful government policy and structural ableism, this is a reminder of the existence of everyday prejudices against people with disabilities and the harm this can cause.

The way disability is viewed and treated in society has come a very long way since a time not so long ago when we were banished to institutions, never to be seen or heard from again. But it’s very clear we still have a lot more work to do before people with disabilities are treated with respect and basic humanity.

I took comfort in the fact that the young children at the centre of this will likely miss the discussions on social media and news reports about this incident.

Hopefully, they won’t face such blatant discrimination again – or not until they are older and wiser, at least.