The father of a teenage boy who found out he was banned from his school prom after arriving says that his son feels 'devastated' and 'embarrassed'. Harrison Lang, 15, arrived to his senior year prom on Tuesday evening (June 28) blissfully unaware that he wasn't supposed to be there.
It wasn't until an hour after Harrison had turned up to his prom that teachers called his parents and urged them to pick him up. Stephen Lang, 54, received a call from Camborne Science and International Academy to say that his son wasn't allowed at the event because he had missed one of his final exams and "was naughty this year".
But Stephen says neither him or Harrison were issued any prior warning that he would not be able to attend, and that he had "forked out a small fortune" for his son's suit, shoes and a car hire for the end of year celebration.
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The school has issued a statement saying that neither Harrison nor his family ever tried to buy a prom ticket - and had he tried to, his attendance would have been "politely declined" for not adhering to school policies during the year, reports Cornwall Live.
“I bought my son his suit ready for him to go and we got a car which we had hired to take him. He came down to the prom in the car and parked outside like anybody else and the teacher even opened the door to let him out with the crowds," explained Stephen.
"An hour later I had a phone call from another teacher who said he wasn’t welcome to the prom because he had missed an exam and had been naughty this year."
He described his teenage son as "absolutely devastated" saying it "embarrassed him in front of all his friends".
He continued: "Normally a teacher would ring me if he was ever late or missed school but I hadn't heard a word from them about this. Harrison felt awful in front of his friends.
"He was broken. So upset. We spent a small fortune on his suit, shoes and getting him all nice and ready for it. If they had said a few weeks before then it’s a different matter but they’ve let him go all the way down there, greeted him out the car and said it was lovely to see him and then this.
"He was absolutely devastated. Me, my partner and Harry's mum were all devastated too at how you could turn away a kid like this."
He added that he had emailed the school to complain but had not yet heard back. "Harrison says there were lots of other kids who never attend school there too," he continued. "They’ve done it in front of hundreds of people and made him look so small. It was his last day of schooling and that prom experience will never happen again.
“The school has my phone number and they are quick enough to ring me if he was naughty at school or late but they didn’t even try to ring me about this.”
A spokesperson for Camborne Science and International Academy, said: "Whilst we do our utmost to make sure all students are able to attend school social occasions, unfortunately and rarely there are instances when this isn’t possible. Camborne Science and International Academy has very clear and high expectations about attendance and behaviour as outlined in our school policies.
"All students are fully aware that they must adhere to our school policies throughout the year and when these standards are not met, students will not be awarded the privilege to attend the prom. The prom is a ticketed event and students are required to pay in advance and pre-order food.
"In this instance, the student in question neither paid for a ticket nor pre-ordered food and therefore was not expected to attend. If he had attempted to pay for a ticket or pre-order food, he would have been politely declined at that point due to our aforementioned policies.”
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