An 11-year-old girl was sent home from a week-long summer-camp on the Isle of Wight for smuggling in a chocolate bar; a fact that her teachers discovered after they opened a sealed letter addressed to her mother and read it. Her mother, who is unemployed and cares full-time for her autistic son, had to drive 160 miles through the night to pick up the child. She had saved for six months to pay for the trip. Teachers conducted a full search of the child's possessions — including pulling out her suitcase lining — to discover the banned chocolates.
"They had been planning the feast weeks before the trip and Holli was in charge of bringing the chocolate," she said.
"It wasn't even at midnight. They ate the chocolate at about 9.30pm and it only went on for about 15 minutes. It's not like they were having a party or making noise.
"The teachers had no idea about it until they read Holli's letter to me.
"I am furious that they read her letter, it is like being in prison. It's not like she is five – she is 11 and deserves privacy in what she writes to her mum."
"Holli said she was really upset because they emptied her toiletry bag into the sink and pulled out the lining in her suitcase.
"It was carried out in such a manner you would have thought they were running an international drug smuggling operation from their hotel room.
"I don't see how eating chocolate makes the holiday unsafe. They were not being naughty – they were just having fun."
Child banned from school trip for eating chocolate [Rosa Silverman/The Telegraph]
(via Free Range Kids)