High school can be the four hardest years of your adolescent life. Between cliques, homework, pressure and trying to “fit in,” it can be a lot for a teenager to handle. When you add real world issues into the mix, it’s almost impossible to stay afloat.
But, Maddi Runkles, 18, is not like most teens. She’s student council president with a 4.0 GPA, vice president of Key Club and she’s also on the soccer team. She’s one of those girls who “does it all.” But, Runkles isn’t perfect.
Runkles found out at 18-years-old that she’s pregnant – unexpectedly. And, growing up in a Christian town, she has decided to keep her baby. But, her school – Heritage Academy (a strict Christian high school) – now refuses to let her walk at her graduation ceremony.
On top of being banned from graduation, she has been stripped of all of her leadership roles in the school, kicked off the soccer team and is “not allowed to be seen on the school’s campus.” She was also suspended for two days.
The school insists that Runkles’ decision to partake in sex before marriage was “immoral,” and stands by their decisions to “punish her.”
Although she is not going to be allowed to walk at graduation – she will receive her diploma after completing four years of high school. But, the town has issued much backlash towards the Runkles family and because of this, her parents have pulled Maddi and her brothers out of the school.
She told BuzzFeed News:
“You can preach abstinence all you want, but you can’t just stop teens from having sex. They’re going to do it no matter what, and you’re never going to be able to stop that.”
My goal is to make people in the pro-life and Christian community realize that you can be against the killing of babies, but then when the girl chooses to keep her baby and her situation doesn’t meet your standards, you can’t just throw her out. That defeats the whole purpose of being pro-life.”