This mom explained why her son wouldn’t be accepting his “perfect attendance” award

If you’re thinking about back to school traditions, end-of-the-year award ceremonies might bring a little nostalgia your way. But for one student who received the “Perfect Attendance” award, it was an honor that wasn’t necessarily celebrated.

The child in question was 10-year-old JJ, who managed to not miss a day of school. Based on managing to show up every day, he was named the recipient of the “100% Attendance” award at his school. While, yes — his attendance was perfect — his mom, Rachel Wright, believes that it was based solely on luck. And in her eyes, such an award should never be given to a child. Because, well — sometimes it’s totally necessary to not be at school.

Wright discussed her views on Facebook, in a post which quickly made the rounds.

In her eyes, her son shouldn’t be awarded because he was lucky enough not to catch a cold. In her eyes, it’s not fair to deny a reward to the children who unfortunately fell ill, when really, they were making the right move in staying home.

"In this family you are not shamed for ill health, vulnerability or weakness," she wrote. "In this house you are not encouraged to spread germs when you are not well. In this house we look after ourselves and the weakest amongst us."

It definitely makes you think. In fact, Wright added a totally new viewpoint to the award that we’ve never thought about before. Wright also said that you’d never see a similar practice take place at work.

Wright also noted that her son, technically, had no control over his attendance. As his mother, she was the one who brought him to school.

"As much as I understand the importance of attendance, there must be a better way of helping those families and children who don't go to school for non-genuine reasons," Wright continued. "The messages we are sending to our kids when we reward attendance is wrong for so many reasons."

In an interview with Good Housekeeping, Wright noted that one of her children is disabled. So, rewarding a child simply for staying healthy can be incredibly detrimental.

In short, it’s okay to take a sick day if you’re sick, or if you struggle from an illness that makes perfect attendance a bit tough to conquer. There are so many other ways we can reward children.