School Disciplines Boy for Eating Like Pig

(Montreal, Canada) A seven-year-old male student at Ecole Lalande, Luc Cagadoc, was forced to eat lunch away from other children because he allegedly "eats like a pig." As a Filipino immigrant, Cagadoc learned to eat his food using a fork to mush food into a spoon before swallowing the contents. Lunchroom monitors didn't approve.

Unfortunately, the situation has escalated in an international incident with news being spread that the national dignity of the Philippines has been besmirched.

From SunStar.com.ph:

Left-wing Philippine protesters picketed the Canadian embassy Friday in support of a Filipino boy who was allegedly scolded by school officials in Montreal for using a spoon -- instead of a knife -- during meals.

About a dozen members of Akbayan, a small left-wing political party, held up placards that read, "Respect cultural diversity" and "We eat with spoons and are proud of it."

Some of the placards were pasted on large posters of a spoon and a fork mounted on plastic foam.

The Philippine Embassy has issued a statement denouncing the school's actions. Cagadoc's family is planning to file a formal complaint with the Quebec Human Rights Commission alleging insensitive and racist behavior and seeking unspecified punitive damages.

I have to side with the family in this case. The school seems to be quite intolerant. After all, the boy is only seven years old.