Imagine your kid finds a cute photo in a magazine and wants to look like the little girl pictured. Now imagine you're lucky enough to be one of those crafty moms who can make it happen (mazel tov ... goodness knows I'm not one of them!). What do you expect when you send your kid to school? A teacher to take pictures of her and turn her into the butt of jokes on Facebook? The rest of the world to tell you you're a bad mom?
That's what happened to a little girl in Chicago. The 7-year-old wanted to wear Jolly Rancher candies at the end of her braids -- where most girls wear little barrettes. So Lucinda Williams, a hairstylist, did what a good mom does. She put them into her daughter's hair and sent her off to school, feeling as proud as ... well, as proud as a 7-year-old who thinks she looks really cool can be.
But when a computer teacher took photos of little Ukailya Lofton's head, the little girl didn't know she'd be posting them on Facebook and opening the comments up to her friends to make fun of the little kid. The unidentified teacher got caught thanks to a parent who was "friends" with her on Facebook. She took a screenshot of the picture and comments and passed them along to Williams.
Can you say big ol' case of adults being @ssholes to a little kid? Not to make mountains out of molehills here, but a teacher posting a kid's picture on Facebook isn't such a big deal. People sitting there making fun of a 7-year-old's hairstyle is.
Because it hasn't stopped there. Instead of sounding off on what a jerk this teacher and her friends were, people have been adding to the commentary in news comments, calling Lucinda everything but a nice person for humoring her child.
But here's what I know about kids around that age. They do goofy things. My 5-year-old has worn Minnie Mouse ears to school. She's decided two weird ponytails sprouting out of the sides of her head were the height of fashion. She's come off the bus with one pant leg rolled halfway up and one down -- when I know she left the house with two cuffs around her ankles.
Why do I let it happen? Because she's just a kid. I delight in having two teenage babysitters who are still pretty proud to let their child-side out. They're not embarrassed to wear Beauty and the Beast socks to school (with sandals so EVERYONE can see them) or make bizarre faces as their photos are snapped for their student IDs. I want her to retain that child-like heart -- the longer, the better.
I'm on the mom's side here, how about you?
Image via Jo Naylor/Flickr
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Comments 137
I suppose I should agree with you, but Jolly Ranchers, really?
Aw. Poor girl. I think it looks like a fun, temporary little hair-do for a girl. Better than aluminum foil wrapped around the ends. Just stay away from water and bees!
It makes me mad when people take away the innocence of children and their harmless ideas and creative expression. Especially teachers. So many educators are losing their jobs right now, and this one doesn't even get suspended for her actions. She should be eternally grateful.
My bigger concern would be the fact that the teacher was posting my child's picture on the internet without my consent. I post pictures of my child but I'm also in control of security settings on my account and who can view those pictures. The catty comments are uncalled for and that alone begs to question the teacher's judgement and maturity. I don't want to go on faith that she is protecting pictures of my kid from some creapazoid.
Hmmmm....I guess it's only OK for adults to be assholes to kids if they don't like the kid's parent(s)....I mean, otherwise you'd be one of those assholes....
http://thestir.cafemom.com/in_the_news/112611/willow_palin_makes_herself_fair
I think it was a case of "why make a big deal about this?" for the mom. Everyone is calling her all sorts of bad names for sending her daughter to school with candies in her hair but from what I gather her daughter asked for the hairstyle. Yeah it looks silly but the little girl is 7, I remember when I was that age I thought it would be really cool to wear three pony tails on my head at the same time a set of pig tails right above my ears and one sticking right out of the back. I asked my mother to fix my hair like that she spent five minutes trying to persuade me that it really wasn't the best look for me (I had short straight hair at the time), but I insisted that it would look cool so my mother did my hair the way I wanted and I more than likely looked ridiculous but I don't remember ANYONE making fun of me where I would have been able to find out. I mean sure I could see saying something about it after you get home to a close friend or a loved one because it is a little silly, but to take pictures and post them on the internet where other adults will make fun of a child just seems really really wrong to me. Everyone wants to say it's the mothers fault but she was probably just avoiding a temper tantrum and humoring her child by doing something she didn't think would be that big of a deal, sure she looked a little silly but again she's seven. I hope this teacher is ashamed of herself.
This is terrible. First of all, the mother could sue just for the teacher posting the picture of her child without consent. That's illegal. Then to make fun of a little girl. It's one thing to joke about what the mother was thinking but to actually mock a 7 year old is despicable. Aren't the teachers supposed to be the adults? When did it become ok for them to bully our kids? This is just wrong on so many levels.
First: I think the candy ties in the hair are super cute. I have barrettes for my kids that are plastic and LOOK like candy. This is an awesome idea and go mom for being so skilled and creative.
Second: big question here: was this teacher white? Because there is a huge gap of cultural understanding between white people and Black people about Black hair. The article doesn't tell us--or even who the teacher is.
If this is a case of some racist white teacher mocking Black hair, well, you better sit on me, before I hunt her down and offer her a few choice words.
Shannon, are you making a threat?? She was not mocking black hair. Stop with the racist card. This has nothing to do with being black. And last I knew, Black girls dont wear candies in their hair, because their hair is of a different texture.
Personally, I think it's creative and cute. I'm still trying to figure out the logistics of how the little girl's mom put them in her hair, but I think it's great. The teacher was in no place to judge, and certainly in no place to post a child's picture on her FB page without the parent's knowledge or consent.