Photo via @Lollardfish/Twitter
June 18, 2021, 11:24 am
A Utah junior high school was put on blast for leaving a cheerleader with Down syndrome out of the yearbook, taking two nearly identical photos and using the one without her for their official squad photo and not even including her name in the list of members. Morgyn Arnold, 14, was the team manager and attended practices and cheered at games just like the other girls, but came home from school late in the year upset because she wasn’t with them in the school yearbook.
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“I hope that no one ever has to experience the heartbreak that comes when the person they love comes home from school devastated and shows them that they’re not in the picture with their team,” said Morgyn’s sister Jordyn in a Facebook post. “I hope that no one ever has to explain why people deliberately choose to be exclusive.”
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The Facebook post appears to have been deleted, but not before the story caught national attention. It was picked up by journalist and popular Twitter user David M. Perry, who has a son of his own with Down syndrome and has had to watch him experience the same kind of exclusion.
“This kind of thing happens all the time,” Perry wrote. “I can’t count the number of times our son has been excluded, or nearly excluded, from events and pictures and related social activities in his 8 years of school. I know this fury.”
As Perry points out, the photo that included Arnold and the one that did not are virtually identical, but the one without her was declared to represent Shoreline Jr. High cheerleading. Arnold says she was sent away before the second photo was taken and her name didn’t appear in the list of team members, which doesn’t seem like it could be a “mistake” as the school claimed.
“We are deeply saddened by the mistake that was made that omitted a student photo out of the yearbook,” the school wrote in another Facebook post that appears to have been deleted. “Apologies have been made to the family and we sincerely apologize to all others impacted by this error.”
Jordyn’s statement on Facebook, however, contradicts the assertion that this was a simple error.
“There were two photos: one with Morgyn and one without. A choice was made on which photo to submit, a choice made MULTIPLE times and a choice that excluded Morgyn EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.”
Whether a mistake or not, disabled individuals are understandably tired, having often themselves experienced the same kind of exclusion because they’re in some way different from other kids, other family members, other coworkers, and other friends. Multiple commenters have noted other differences in the two photos as well, suspecting that everyone knew that the first one would not be used in the yearbook.
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You definitely can see the difference once you look properly, first one is perfunctory
— Annmarie G67
(@AnnmarieGallig1) June 16, 2021
Although she shouldn’t have to, Arnold’s sister says that she decided to forgive her school for leaving her out, whether deliberately or not, and says her teammates have been supportive.
“Morgyn could have chosen to be angry or upset, but instead she chose to be understanding, and forgiving,” said Jordyn. “Those girls on the team are her friends, and they’ve been incredibly supportive through all of this.”
*First Published: June 18, 2021, 11:24 am
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