Maddi Runkles is about to graduate high school with a 4.0 GPA. Her school, Heritage Academy, won’t let her walk at graduation.
In January, Maddi found out that she was pregnant. She told the administrators at her school, who punished her for breaking the Student Pledge. Heritage Academy’s Student Pledge requires “abstaining from sexual immorality and from the use of alcohol, tobacco, and illegal drugs.” The school stripped her of all her leadership roles, suspended her for two days, and banned her from walking at graduation.
A Miserable Assembly
Heritage Academy principal Dave Hobbs planned to announce Maddi’s pregnancy to the whole school. Maddi, however, wanted to be the one to tell her friends. At a school assembly, Maddi told Students for Life, “I stood there in tears while my dad read half of my prepared statement until I could compose myself and read the rest on my own, admitting my mistake but also saying that I chose life for my child.”
Students for Life has been publicly defending Maddi against her school. A post on the website reads, “Because of students like Maddi, Students for Life created a successful program called the Pregnant on Campus Intiative (PonC). It seeks to create a life-affirming culture on college campuses through lobbying the school for diaper decks, lactation rooms, childcare and housing options, and connect with local pregnancy resource centers.”
Heritage Academy is a nondenominational Christian school. The administrators believe in Biblical morality…except for the parts about forgiveness, grace, and compassion. How else could one explain adults humiliating a pregnant teenager as she sobs in front of her whole school?
Double Standard
Breaking the Heritage Academy moral code is serious business. Initially, Maddi was going to get kicked out of school – until her friends and family came together and pleaded with administrators to reconsider.
Maddi isn’t trying to evade punishment. She took her suspension, and she stepped down from her leadership roles. Heritage Academy does not apply the moral code equally in every case. According to The Blaze, “Other punishments for code violations have been smaller, such as an in-school suspension or a suspension from participating in an athletic event.”
The School Fires Back
Principal David Hobbs maintains that the school is punishing Maddi not for being pregnant, but for having sex outside of marriage. In a public letter, he says “Heritage is also pleased that she has chosen to not abort her son. However, her immorality is the original choice she made that began this situation.”
Does Hobbs seriously think that no other student at Heritage Academy is sexually active? Maddi is just the one who got pregnant and chose life for her son.
At 18-years old, Maddi could have had an abortion without ever telling her parents, or the school, that she was pregnant. She would still be a star student, active in extracurriculars, and excited to graduate with her classmates. Her life would be easier.
What a horrible lesson to teach teenagers – that if you choose life, your school will purposefully put obstacles in your way and stop you from enjoying normal life experiences that you have earned.
A petition asks Heritage Academy to let Maddi walk at graduation.
