Teacher Cuts Off 1st Grader's Braid In Front Of Class

Grab the reins people.

This is a minor non-event that has been elevated to the status of two shootings and a bank robbery.

Let's teach children how we adults get mean and nasty with each other and then how we run to lawyers and the press to get even more mean and nasty.

Sorry, but I do not agree that this was a non-event.
I would be absolutely livid if my daughter's hair was cut by her teacher. I think the teacher went way overboard, needs to lose her job and should find a new career. Obviously, she doesn't need to be around children.

I am not talking about being "mean" or "nasty" just some good old common sense. I can guarantee that if I went down to the local shopping center and cut someone's hair off with a pair of scissors, I would be spending the night in jail.......or traction.
 
redheadedgal - what Lovejac said! Thank you! That needed to be said and you did it very well.

On another note - I sent an email to the email address that was provided a couple of pages back and I received a very nice reply. I'll post it if anyone wants to see it, but basically it said that the District was upset that this had happened, they couldn't talk about personnel matters but they were looking into it and thanked me for my concern.

Salem

I sent an email the other day also, Salem, and got a reply back. My reply was written by a Ms. P from the Department of Administrative Accountability. It was a very nice reply and stated basically the same thing yours did.
 
I am appalled at this story. IMO, this qualifies as assault! A teacher can't just cut a kid's hair. This teacher is unquestionably wrong.

If the girl was playing with her hair, there were many other alternatives- if the teacher felt she was about to lose her temper she could have called the girl's parents or sent her to the principal's office, if she could not handle it.

To the people saying it was wrong but won't affect the girl, it's just hair, that may be true to an extent but some kids are sensitive and you don't know, it might have traumatized the girl. My concern is the message- to think that a child is powerless to a teacher getting physical with them- and this WAS physical, a teacher taking scissors to her hair, this should never have happened. Ever. If I was the girl I would be afraid now, of what a teacher might do.
 
Teachers can, and do, bully children. This is a perfect example of it. I've heard from friends of mine how teachers and school workers always seem to pick a child they don't like and that is the child who gets the teahers' frustration taken out on them whether they are causing a problem or not. Sometimes its obvious, but most of the time its just little things that don't get much attention. The kids know it though.
 
no teacher better ever put their hands on my kiera like that ..if they dont like the way her hair looks tough .. they are there to teach not to bother the students on how they look ..i can see if its a shirt with a nasty saying or what not .. but this is unacceptable behavior from a professional that i SHOULD be able to trust with my daughter after all they are getting paid to teach i am sure its not an easy job because i know alot of kids can be just terrible but i see no reason for this whatsoever .. if they cant handle the job anymore look for a different one
 
This case makes me think of the teacher who duct taped the kid to a chair. Another who duct taped a child's mouth. No there wasn't physical damage, but there was a lot of psychological damage to the child. To me though this isn't assault or battery. This is child abuse, plain and simple.

To a girl especially, her hair is her 'glory.' I can just see her sitting for hours to get her hair braided. But her mother insisted and I can see the little girl smile afterwards because she was 'pretty.' But then she goes to school and the teacher cuts her hair in front of the other students. The other kids laugh at her. She is humiliated, and no longer feels 'pretty.' That just killed any self esteem that child had.

And if the DA won't prosecute, and the school won't suspend this teacher, then I sure as heck would be contacting Children's Services. Because pschological abuse is child abuse. And if this teacher practiced it even once, then she should be investigated for it. The taunt to the child after cutting her hair would be one of the things I told CPS about. And yeah, I would be sitting in the principals office, attending the school board meeting and the PTA meeting and writing letters to the editor too. Because if the school isn't paying attention to this teacher psychologically abusing children, you have to wonder what else they aren't paying attention to.

I like the point that someone made about if another child did this to her out of malice, that child would be in serious trouble. Possibly suspended, possibly sent to counseling. Because this is something we try to teach kids not to do, and teaching them not to do it has to start with the teachers behavior.
 
http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/79689217.html

Commentary on the case from a local columnist.

From your link - bold by me: When she was done, she threw the piece of braided hair in a trash can and dared the girl to go home and tell her mother.

This does not sound like a teacher who "lost it" this sounds like a teacher deliberatly attacking a specific student. :furious::furious:

JMO,

Salem

I hope she is fired and I wish Layma's mother would name the teacher. Mom doesn't have any "confidentiality" rules to follow!
 
Huh, when I was in elementary school I had a teacher who used to tape one or two of the boys' mouths for talking too much. It must have been regular scotch tape because after a while it would get wet and be hanging partway off.
 
I don't care if I'm disliked for my opinion...I bet that teacher was at the end of her rope. The child was probably obstinate. NOT AN EXCUSE to cut her hair off...but I would have lost it, too. Those braids are seriously annoying. Psychological damage? Please. It's HAIR!!!! Every kid has had some humiliating experience in school - tell me one that doesn't! Waste of time that so much attention is being paid to dead protein. She should have just sent her out of the room.

MY BOLD

True. But her teacher is not supposed to be the source of the humiliation.
 
This case makes me think of the teacher who duct taped the kid to a chair. Another who duct taped a child's mouth. No there wasn't physical damage, but there was a lot of psychological damage to the child. To me though this isn't assault or battery. This is child abuse, plain and simple.

To a girl especially, her hair is her 'glory.' I can just see her sitting for hours to get her hair braided. But her mother insisted and I can see the little girl smile afterwards because she was 'pretty.' But then she goes to school and the teacher cuts her hair in front of the other students. The other kids laugh at her. She is humiliated, and no longer feels 'pretty.' That just killed any self esteem that child had.

And if the DA won't prosecute, and the school won't suspend this teacher, then I sure as heck would be contacting Children's Services. Because pschological abuse is child abuse. And if this teacher practiced it even once, then she should be investigated for it. The taunt to the child after cutting her hair would be one of the things I told CPS about. And yeah, I would be sitting in the principals office, attending the school board meeting and the PTA meeting and writing letters to the editor too. Because if the school isn't paying attention to this teacher psychologically abusing children, you have to wonder what else they aren't paying attention to.

I like the point that someone made about if another child did this to her out of malice, that child would be in serious trouble. Possibly suspended, possibly sent to counseling. Because this is something we try to teach kids not to do, and teaching them not to do it has to start with the teachers behavior.

Beautiful post!
 
I hope she is fired and I wish Layma's mother would name the teacher. Mom doesn't have any "confidentiality" rules to follow!



i found the staff directory (had to find a back way in b/c the link on the congress homepage wouldn't work for me)... click on "teachers" then "first grade". there are six grade one teachers listed-- if this is for the current school year... i tried googling each with "cut off braid" but got no results. maybe someone else has another suggestion? would there be a public data base of who gets fined/pays a fine? or... anyone live in milwaukee? :dance:

http://www2.milwaukee.k12.wi.us/congress/staffdir.htm

http://www2.milwaukee.k12.wi.us/congress ---> school's homepage


(i hope this is okay... for obvious reasons i didn't post a direct link/the teachers' names :innocent:)
 
Redheadedgal, i agree with your post and that the teacher should have chose a more creative method.

That teacher needs to be banned from working with children ever again. She had no place cutting off a child's braid!
 
I would have visited this school with my lawyer. An immediate meeting! The teacher would have been charged with battery!!!!! NOT disorderly conduct! She would be apologizing to my daughter and I would OWN the school before it was over.
This teacher needs to hit the road. She has NO business being in the classroom.

I believe that this is a HURT the child will NEVER forget! The teacher can never make this right. The school board should be recalled for not firing her on the SPOT!

I'm horrified at this teacher's actions. I have a granddaughter with the most beautiful hair - and she wears it long. No matter how much trouble it is - SHE does not want it cut. I can not imagine how she would feel if this was done to her. And by her teacher no less - someone she is supposed to trust and respect.

I too would probably be in one of those jail cells - this is not one I could let go.

Salem

GREAT POST :clap::clap::clap:

That is right - this kind of humiliation to a child can last a life time.
this teacher needed to be humiliated in front of the entire class; she should have been made to apologize to the child in front of her piers and then be escorted right out of the school.

But an annoying child would only assume that is is OK to proceed annoying so switching her to another class and letting her know that being annoying results in separation from her class mates and friends.

Not sure that a mom going to jail would help any child at all. :) I would not do well in jail - LOL
but making things right for the child would be key.
YAP having a lawyer on my side to make sure the teacher appologizes and is fired, would satisfy me. Making things right for my child, is key. a $175.00 fine is BS.
 
This case makes me think of the teacher who duct taped the kid to a chair. Another who duct taped a child's mouth. No there wasn't physical damage, but there was a lot of psychological damage to the child. To me though this isn't assault or battery. This is child abuse, plain and simple.

To a girl especially, her hair is her 'glory.' I can just see her sitting for hours to get her hair braided. But her mother insisted and I can see the little girl smile afterwards because she was 'pretty.' But then she goes to school and the teacher cuts her hair in front of the other students. The other kids laugh at her. She is humiliated, and no longer feels 'pretty.' That just killed any self esteem that child had.

And if the DA won't prosecute, and the school won't suspend this teacher, then I sure as heck would be contacting Children's Services. Because pschological abuse is child abuse. And if this teacher practiced it even once, then she should be investigated for it. The taunt to the child after cutting her hair would be one of the things I told CPS about. And yeah, I would be sitting in the principals office, attending the school board meeting and the PTA meeting and writing letters to the editor too. Because if the school isn't paying attention to this teacher psychologically abusing children, you have to wonder what else they aren't paying attention to.

I like the point that someone made about if another child did this to her out of malice, that child would be in serious trouble. Possibly suspended, possibly sent to counseling. Because this is something we try to teach kids not to do, and teaching them not to do it has to start with the teachers behavior.
Great Post :clap: :clap: :clap:
 
Teachers can, and do, bully children. This is a perfect example of it. I've heard from friends of mine how teachers and school workers always seem to pick a child they don't like and that is the child who gets the teahers' frustration taken out on them whether they are causing a problem or not. Sometimes its obvious, but most of the time its just little things that don't get much attention. The kids know it though.


You are absolutely correct. In the 6th grade I watched in horror as my teacher. Mr. Richard Parker grabbed a child up by the neck and raised him off the floor while calling him hateful rasisit names. I will never forget it, and I doubt anyone else did too. We were all so terrified! I never told a soul until I was an adult.
 
"Lamya Cannon says the teacher called her up to the front of the class at Congress Elementary, took a classroom scissors and snipped the beaded braid that frames her face.
"I went to my desk and cried. They was laughing. She threw it away." Cannon said."
http://www.wkowtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=11677405

I would be furious, if I were that child's mom! :furious:

And, where I live that would be battery.
 
ITA that this teacher was completely out of line!!! I taught high school for 13 years, and I can tell you that I would've been fired in short order for pulling such a stunt. I also agree that this teacher is mean and has it out for this girl. My younger son is 11, and he is ADHD/LD and attends resource class one period a day. He has always been blessed with wonderful teachers until this year, when we moved across town and he had to change schools. His main teacher this year is a bully who especially dislikes kids with IEPs. She has called my son "dumb" and when I called a conference (I included the principal and the district's special ed. coordinator, who chewed her out) this teacher got even worse. If my son needed help, she would say to him,"Oh, do you want me to get your MOMMY to come rescue you??" Needless to say, this is not over. I consider myself to be especially in tune with how hard teachers work, but I'd like to punch this woman in the face! Humiliation has NO place in the classroom, and its scars are hard to get rid of... and to do such a thing to a FIRST-GRADER!! What a BULLY!!!:twocents:
 
Grab the reins people.

This is a minor non-event that has been elevated to the status of two shootings and a bank robbery.

Let's teach children how we adults get mean and nasty with each other and then how we run to lawyers and the press to get even more mean and nasty.

I was thinking the same thing at first too.

Until I remembered the time that my father cut a huge chunk of hair from my sisters head in front of all of us, because she had knots and was having trouble brushing them out. It was a power thing- just like in this case.

To adults it might seem insignificant and no big deal....hair grows back, right?

But for the child it happened to it would have been humiliating and traumatic. For the rest of the class who had to watch this teacher lose control, I'd say it would have been very traumatic too. (as it was for me and my sisters).
Scaring the chit out of kids is not the way to gain control of a classroom. Teachers should be respected- not feared.

Also this type of behaviour from an authority figure is teaching kids to lash out instead of finding a healthy way to release pent up frustration and rage...which is teaching them to get 'mean and nasty' as you say.

If it were one of my children i would not go to the press or find an atty. I would demand a formal apology, in person, from the teacher to my daughter, and request that the teacher attend an anger management program.

JMO
 
This is a link to a video: http://www.essence.com/news/hot_topics_4/crazytown_usa_braids_not_safe_in_milwauk.php Watch little Layma when she says "she threw it away". Poor baby looks a little stunned that the teacher would actually throw her hair away.

This is a link to an interview mom did with Essence mag.: http://www.essence.com/news/breaking_news/seven_year-olds_mother_speaks_out_about.php I just thought it was interesting.

And this is the latest article: http://www.wltx.com/news/story.aspx?storyid=82362&catid=35 The school is going through the "disciplinary process with the teacher who remains in the classroom." :(

Salem
 

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