not always being able to get out of bed and move as fast as necessary constitutes "being unable to care for your child."

If you don't plan ahead for that, and it causes your child to be late to school all the time, then yeah -- you need to either take responsibility and plan ahead for delays, or you need to admit that you require assistance in caring for your children and get a nanny or someone to help you get the kids up and ready and taken to school.

Because 10 minutes is totally worth ostracizing a child and making their life, one in which they are obviously already dealing with a sick mother, more difficult.

Nowhere did I ever support this kid being punished, bro. But hey, thanks for putting words in my mouth. That's always fun.

Yes, it is the mother who is making the child suffer here by making the school treat them poorly.

It's the mother who's making the child suffer here by being late to school every day. He misses out on interactions with his peers in that first 10 minutes while everybody is settling down and waiting for class to start. Regardless of any punishment, being the kid that everyone looks at when he walks in late will ostracize a kid. He also doesn't benefit from that extra ten minutes of instruction or time to hone in on whatever the class is doing that morning.

It's not that the punishment here was justified, or that the mother is responsible for it. It's that the mother is responsible for him being late to school all the time because she doesn't plan ahead for a known long-term medical issue that causes morning delays. That is irresponsible parenting. It's not that I don't have sympathy for someone with medical issues. I just think that a mature adult who is responsible for raising children ought to be able to plan ahead to some degree. If you know you might be slow in the morning because you're in a lot of pain, then wake up a little early the next morning so that you have the extra time you need. It's really not a difficult concept, is it?