we must not have read the same story.... nowhere in the story I read did it say the father grounded him with the purpose of not attending the funeral. He was grounded. That is all the article says. As such, I have to back the parents here ( I would assume that if the kid asked, he may have been given permission, he may not have, he was being punished for something )...nowhere in the article does it say the kid asked his parents if he could go....
Does it say he was grounded or just that, like most eleven year old latchkey kids, he was forbidden to leave until his parent(s) got home?