A US mother has been arrested and jailed because she was unable to obtain a doctor’s certificate to explain her son’s absences from school.
Julie Giles, a stay-at-home mother from Sylvania, Georgia, documented her ordeal on her personal Facebook page, announcing that a warrant for her arrest was issued after her son, Samuel, missed 12 days of school.
Giles explained that her son had missed six more days than the county and schools allow for children Samuel’s age, and that she was unable to provide an excuse for his absences.
The reason for this, she said, is that Samuel is “often sick” and she does not have the money to regularly take him to the doctor, choosing instead to keep him at home.
Despite this reasoning, Ms Giles was arrested and handcuffed last week, and jailed for the day.
“Sam has had six more unexcused absences (an absence without a doctor’s note) than the county allows per year this year,” wrote Giles on her Facebook about her arrest, “I was not fingerprinted, but I was shackled and they took my mug shot, which will be in our local newspaper.”
Julie’s son, Samuel.
Ms Giles is currently receiving pro-bono legal support, but has opted to remove her son from school and sell her house, in order to move Samuel to another state, claiming that she does not believe Samuel is being treated fairly.
A day after her arrest, Samuel was presented with a ‘Student of the Month’ award for outstanding engagement and kindness.
